The Region of Waterloo\u2019s most effective tool in tracking COVID-19 and other respiratory infections is ceasing operations at the end in July.<\/p>\n
The University of Waterloo\u2019s provincially-funded wastewater surveillance is ending, coinciding with the Ontario government\u2019s decision to wind down its own program. <\/p>\n
Wastewater surveillance was first introduced in 2021.<\/p>\n
Mark Servos, the Canada research chair in water quality protection, has been spearheading wastewater monitoring at the University of Waterloo since 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring hundreds of thousands of people at the same time with the same sample,\u201d he explained to CTV News. \u201cThere\u2019s been hundreds of variants that we\u2019ve been able to isolate.\u201d<\/p>\n
UW has been the only surveillance site in Waterloo Region, gathering samples from facilities in Kitchener and Cambridge with weekly updates that get reported on the provincial and regional dashboard.<\/p>\n
Throughout the pandemic, Ontario collected data from surveillance sites across seven sub-regions.<\/p>\n
Now that the program is ending on July 31, so too will most of those websites.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019ll have a weakened perspective of what\u2019s happening in the province,\u201d Servos added. <\/p>\n
The province said its stepping back to make way for a nationwide testing program. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks tells CTV News \u201cto avoid duplication, Ontario is working to support this expansion while winding down the provincial wastewater surveillance initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Public Health Agency of Canada, meanwhile, said it\u2019s currently testing at four wastewater plants in Toronto with plans to expand into four other cities.<\/p>\n
Experts fear the lack of surveillance sites across small and remote communities will effect our ability to gather information quickly and accurately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we only focusing on major cities or are we also focusing on smaller communities?\u201d asked Zahid Butt, an assistant professor of the University of Waterloo\u2019s School of Public Health Sciences.<\/p>\n
Servos argues wastewater surveillance\u2019s ability to detect future pandemics, as well as influenza A, B, and RSV, make it a valuable tool that shouldn\u2019t be shutdown in smaller markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are important to the hospitalization and the impact and decisions that public health officers will have to make,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey will have no ability to know what\u2019s happening or anticipate what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Region of Waterloo\u2019s most effective tool in tracking COVID-19 and other respiratory infections is ceasing operations at the end in July.<\/p>\n
The University of Waterloo\u2019s provincially-funded wastewater surveillance is ending, coinciding with the Ontario government\u2019s decision to wind down its own program. <\/p>\n
Wastewater surveillance was first introduced in 2021.<\/p>\n
Mark Servos, the Canada research chair in water quality protection, has been spearheading wastewater monitoring at the University of Waterloo since 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring hundreds of thousands of people at the same time with the same sample,\u201d he explained to CTV News. \u201cThere\u2019s been hundreds of variants that we\u2019ve been able to isolate.\u201d<\/p>\n