{"id":18349,"date":"2026-05-20T14:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=18349"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:31:18","slug":"norfolk-department-of-public-health-launches-2026-beach-monitoring-season","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/norfolk-department-of-public-health-launches-2026-beach-monitoring-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Kathy Lamm<br \/>\nKathy.Lamm@vdh.virginia.gov, 757-236-0529<br \/>\nMay 20, 2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NORFOLK, Va \u2014 The Norfolk Department of Public Health is officially starting its 2026 beach water testing season just in time for Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n<p>To keep swimmers safe all summer long, health experts will collect weekly water samples from 10 different spots along Ocean View beaches. Testing will happen every Monday morning, and the lab will share the results by Tuesday afternoon. Weekly testing runs through Labor Day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Are They Testing For?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Laboratory personnel test the water for a type of bacteria called <em>enterococci<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Risk:<\/strong> While these specific bacteria don&#8217;t usually make you sick on their own, finding them in the water is a warning sign.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Danger:<\/strong> High levels of these bacteria mean there is a higher chance that other harmful germs are in the water, which can cause skin rashes or stomach bugs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Where to Find the Results<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a water sample fails to meet state or federal safety standards, the city will immediately issue a <strong>swimming advisory<\/strong> for that specific part of the beach.<\/p>\n<p>You will know a beach has a warning if you see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Physical warning signs posted right on the beach.<\/li>\n<li>Local news updates and press releases.<\/li>\n<li>Updates on the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Stay Informed:<\/strong> Before you head out to the sand, you can check the latest safety maps and weekly test results by visiting the official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/waterborne-hazards-control\/beach-monitoring\/\">VDH Beach Monitoring webpage<\/a> or checking Norfolk&#8217;s local public health updates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>See How It Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you want to see exactly how health departments collect and test these water samples in the lab, check out this short video: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zS_wFwGRJ2Y?si=YiVOd2zEIuZJmfSd\">What is Beach Monitoring<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong># # #<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media Contact: Kathy Lamm Kathy.Lamm@vdh.virginia.gov, 757-236-0529 May 20, 2026 Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season NORFOLK, Va \u2014 The Norfolk Department of Public Health is officially starting its 2026 beach water testing season just in time for Memorial Day weekend. To keep swimmers safe all summer long, health experts will collect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[659,802,593],"class_list":["post-18349","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-beach-monitoring","tag-norfolk-department-of-public-health","tag-safe-swimming"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/norfolk-department-of-public-health-launches-2026-beach-monitoring-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Media Contact: Kathy Lamm Kathy.Lamm@vdh.virginia.gov, 757-236-0529 May 20, 2026 Norfolk Department of Public Health Launches 2026 Beach Monitoring Season NORFOLK, Va \u2014 The Norfolk Department of Public Health is officially starting its 2026 beach water testing season just in time for Memorial Day weekend. 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