Provincial changes to COVID-19 wastewater surveillance leads to local sampling reduction
Posted Apr 10, 2023 02:18:12 PM.
Last Updated Apr 10, 2023 02:27:44 PM.
There’s been a recent reduction to wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 in Waterloo Region.
A notice on the Region of Waterloo’s online COVID-19 summary dashboard stated that wastewater sampling is no longer taking place in the City of Waterloo, as of April 2.
It’s due to provincial changes to the wastewater surveillance program.
A message on the local COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance dashboard read, “As of April 2023, Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has indicated that provincial funding to support the wastewater surveillance network is being redistributed to cover a reduced number of sites across Ontario in order to focus resources on community sites that provide reliable results and are representative of unique populations and geographical areas across Ontario.”
On its website, the province confirmed that a strategic sampling plan took effect this month.
Locally, COVID wastewater sampling will continue in Kitchener five times a week, and three times a week in Cambridge.
The wastewater surveillance program has been one of the prominent monitoring tools for COVID-19 trends in Ontario, given PCR testing eligibility restrictions which have led to underestimated case counts.
The province’s website added, “Ontario continues to use every tool available to protect Ontarians by monitoring trends and detecting virus outbreaks as early as possible. Wastewater surveillance can help keep Ontario open by monitoring trends in wastewater, as well as the detection and spread of viruses as they mutate over time. Data from the initiative will also continue to be an important tool to inform the province’s understanding and response to virus outbreaks and could inform our response to future public health threats.”
