The Ministry of Health said the further samples tested from Moa Point and Hutt Valley did not detect any virus fragments across May 15, May 16 and May 17. The samples from Porirua and Karori on May 15 and May 17 returned negative results – so Covid-19 virus fragments were not detected on those days, the ministry said. Additional samples were taken on Tuesday and the ministry said it would provide an update on those test results on Thursday.
ESR/Supplied “There is no risk of infection from Covid-19 in wastewater,” the ministry said. “The ministry’s current assessment remains that the weak positive results are likely due to recently recovered cases continuing to shed the virus.”
What is wastewater testing for Covid-19?
Wastewater testing for Covid-19 first started in April 2020, with the aim of giving an early warning of outbreaks or an additional surveillance tool. The science has been developed since then, with a test in November 2020. The number of sites has steadily expanded and ESR now does regular wastewater testing across sites in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Rotorua, Hamilton and Queenstown. The samples are processed in ESR s laboratory in Wellington, and checked for accuracy – including adding a cat coronavirus and a mouse norovirus to every sample as controls.
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Anyone who has Covid-19 symptoms is being urged to get tested, particularly those who live in the Wellington region.
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A Covid-19 wastewater testing pilot s being rolled out around the country as a safety net for catching the virus in the community. How is wastewater sampled? Every day, about 400 million litres of wastewater are collected and treated in Auckland, across 7999 kilometres of wastewater pipes, 518 wastewater stations, 18 treatment plants and 167,264 maintenance holes. Wastewater testing is not new – ESR routinely tests wastewater for viruses and illicit drugs, such as MDMA and cocaine. There are two ways to take wastewater samples, says Dr Joanne Hewitt, head of ESR s environmental virology laboratory: automatic composite samples and grab samples. Automatic composite sampling – where a pump automatically collects a small volume of wastewater every 15 minutes over 24 hours – is the preferred method.