FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3223
You asked
Reference:
A. https://post.parliament.uk/monitoring-wastewater-for-covid-19/
"In October 2020, testing of wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 was performed across more than 90 wastewater treatment plants in the UK.
- In England, Defra, the Environment Agency and JBC are collaborating with support from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). "
The above extract from Reference A, indicates that a programme of testing wastewater is happening.
However, this data is not available on the government Covid-19 dashboard https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ and does not appear to be available for England from ONS although the Scottish data for SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater can be accessed through a dashboard.
I would also like to know what data sets exist relating to such schemes in England, where this data can be obtained and where it is reported.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The COVID infection survey (CIS) is a representative household survey. Our statistics refer to the number of current COVID-19 infections within the population living in private residential households. We exclude those in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments. In communal establishments, rates of COVID-19 infection are likely to be different.
The Office for National Statistics do not hold data on wastewater testing. Your request could be better addressed to the UK Health Security Agency who can be contacted at the following address: informationrights@ukhsa.gov.uk. You can find out more about the government wastewater testing programme by reading this article.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistic (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.