A specialist team will monitor the wastewater for traces of the virus.
Sewage in the midlands will be tested for traces of covid-19.
The wastewater surveillance programme is intended to operate as an early warning system for future possible waves of covid infection, with 68 sampling locations chosen for investigation.
They include six in the midlands - Athlone, Mullingar, Tullamore, Birr, Portlaoise and Portarlington.
The findings will be posted on the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre website on a regular basis.
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