As the benefits of the early detection technique become obvious, interest in using wastewater surveillance to monitor Covid-19 continues to grow in the United States.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020, investing millions of dollars to coordinate and expand programs that detect coronavirus in sewage samples. 

Local health departments and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) public health preparedness programme have begun figuring out how to best use this tool, including how to partner with utility companies to collect samples in the first place, as well as the best way to analyze and interpret the resulting data.

People are becoming more aware and interested to learn about the use of the tool as it could assist not only for SARS-CoV-2 but for other pathogens as well.   

The dashboard′s data is currently limited. However, the CDC expects to update their national wastewater dashboard in the coming weeks with further data regarding weekly changes in the levels but also how the absolute level of coronavirus discovered in a sewer shed compares to other points in the pandemic. They also intend to offer a feature that allows users to see trends over time for each site. 

The goal was to use this technique as an early warning system for community expansion, but more caution was required as BA.2 variant was spreading in the US and other variants could also emerge suddenly. (CNN, April 4, 2022)