Science reporter Jamie Morton looks at how wastewater sampling has evolved to play a star role in New Zealand's elimination strategy. What is wastewater testing? "In the last week wastewater testing provided screening surveillance of 2.3 million people, and for 1.5 million of those, repeat daily testing. In a pilot study, ESR recently rolled out wastewater testing across centres with MIQ facilities, such as East Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Rotorua and Wellington. "Wastewater testing may allow us to identify areas of increasing prevalence, provide warnings to those at risk, and allow targeting of public health responses."

Source: New Zealand Herald February 20, 2021 23:38 UTC