Monthly statistics for the Environmental Monitoring for Health Protection (EMHP) wastewater programme (England)
Transparency data on a range of topics including population coverage, concentration and variants of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater across England.
Background on the EMHP wastewater monitoring programme
The EMHP programme, led by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), tests sewage for fragments of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Samples are taken from approximately 270 sewage treatment works in England. The programme helps identify where the virus is circulating in England, detecting spikes in prevalence and presence of variants.
As the threat of variants has emerged, the programme now plays an important role in the detection of mutations of the virus, variants of concern (VOCs) and variants under investigation (VUIs). This is done through genomic sequencing of wastewater samples, to provide an indication of where VOCs and VUIs may be present across England. Insights from wastewater monitoring are shared with local and national decision makers, to help inform the action that they can take to stop further transmission.
UKHSA publishes monthly transparency data from the EMHP programme. These publications provide an overview on a range of topics including population coverage, concentration and variants of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater across England.
The EMHP SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring programme is being scaled back and paused at the end of March 2022. Wastewater based epidemiology is likely to be of significant importance in the future, both domestically and internationally, and we are exploring further opportunities for this technology.
These publications will therefore be discontinued. Transparency data covering the time period up to the end of March 2022 will be published in 2 final publications on 31 March 2022 and 12 May 2022, at which point regular publications will cease. Any future ad-hoc transparency publications will be announced in advance on this page and on the Statistics at UKHSA page.
Latest report
Previous reports
Supporting information
Last updated 12 May 2022 + show all updates
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Added Wastewater testing coverage data for 23 February 2022: EMHP programme.
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Updated information to include variants of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
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Added notice about Christmas reporting period.
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First published.