LINCOLN- On Tuesday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services removed a tool from its website that was pivotal in tracking the spread of Covid-19. The wastewater surveillance page on the Department's website, which was removed, provided weekly updates on the concentration of Covid-19 in wastewater from more than a dozen sites across the state. With reductions in Covid-19 reporting over the past year, wastewater surveillance was considered one of the most effective ways public health officials were able to monitor disease levels.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said the state's wastewater data was taken down in response to the Biden administration's ending of the national emergency and public health emergency declarations for Covid-19 in May. "Data continues to be tracked for that program and is available upon request," said the spokesman in an email. He also confirmed that the agency will be consolidating information on its website relative to the rates of Covid-19 reporting.

Laura Strimple, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Pillen, wrote in an email that the wastewater surveillance page was removed in consultation with the governor's office, and also cited the end of the health emergencies as a reason for its removal. Strimple also stated that the program is being wound down so that more resources can be devoted to the monitoring of other illnesses, like influenza and RSV.

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