An integrated system for all-island SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance and reporting.
A joint research project has been established by the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen¡¯s University Belfast and University College Dublin, funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) aimed at producing an all-Ireland integrated testing and . An important aspect of this project has been the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to model population to link this with information on the sewer network provided by .
This enables the development of the most efficient and informative sampling strategy for the programme and enables contextualisation of the wastewater test results in terms of the socio-economic and geographic patterning of the population. The aim is to enable early identification of outbreaks of Sars-CoV-2, and also indicate the groups and sub-sections of the population which may be more likely to be at risk from infection. The Centre for GIS and Geomatics at Queen¡¯s University Belfast has developed an innovative methodology for identifying the most appropriate locations for monitoring the levels of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater facilities across Northern Ireland.
John McGrath (PI), Deirdre Gilpin, Jennifer McKinley, Connor Bamford, Michael Tunney, Stuart Elborn (QUB), Derek Fairley (Belfast Trust)
GIS SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance and reporting Team: Jennifer McKinley, Cormac McSparron, Behnam Firoozi Nejad and Conor Graham, Centre for GIS and Geomatics, SNBE.
Funding: COVID-19 Rapid Response Funding Call (Phase 2): Queen¡¯s University Belfast and University College Dublin, funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).