The Hawaii Department of Health has released its first wastewater surveillance report for COVID-19, and found that the data aligns with data from individual tests and genome sequencing of the infectious virus. The report, published last week, shows COVID-19 cases have been declining since early June, with omicron subvariant BA.5 still the dominant strain in Hawaii.

The DOH will publish wastewater surveillance reports every two weeks using data provided by Biobot Analytics of Cambridge, Mass., as part of a national wastewater surveillance program. Let’s hope the downward trend continues.