Leveraging MSWAB Recommendation, MBPO Advocates for Testing Sewage for COVID-19

Adopting a recommendation from the MSWAB, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer sent a letter to Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo encouraging the testing of wastewater as an early warning system to detect the presence and spread of COVID-19 in local communities.

The MSWAB analyzed research from the Netherlands, Paris, and other cities demonstrating the efficacy of wastewater-based epidemiology as a tool for local governments before making the recommendation.

In a press release from the MBPO, MSWAB Chair Matthew Civello thanked Borough President Brewer for her action: “Our hope in sharing this information on with the Manhattan Borough President was to give New Yorkers a more immediate indicator of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in their communities so that they may have more confidence in the reopening of our City and State.”