Health authorities plan to inspect sewage treatment plants nationwide for infectious disease pathogens including COVID-19 before normalizing the pandemic-related quarantine system.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) announced on Wednesday that the minimum once-a-week inspections of 64 sewage treatment facilities in 17 major cities and provinces are set to begin this month.

The authorities plan to look for pathogens such as COVID-19, the norovirus, and the influenza virus.

The sewage facility inspection is a method of analysis that estimates new infections within a community based on the amount of a virus in the sewage.

The KDCA said the method is more convenient and economical as it does not rely on testing and reporting by patients or medical personnel, and is also capable of inspecting a more diverse range of pathogens.