‘Incredibly disappointing’: Ontario halts wastewater testing for COVID, other viruses

Ontario is officially ending its COVID-19 wastewater surveillance programme coming successful a move immoderate nationalist wellness experts telephone shortsighted.

Dr. Fahad Razak, nan erstwhile technological head of nan COVID-19 Ontario Science Table, says nan province’s determination is “incredibly disappointing.”

Razak says wastewater testing gives an early denotation of erstwhile COVID-19 and different viruses are connected nan rise.

Razak says nan wastewater surveillance successful dozens of communities across Ontario is useful not only for detecting COVID, but for monitoring imaginable threats, including nan imaginable presence of H5N1 avian flu.

Ontario’s situation ministry says it is “winding down” its programme arsenic nan Public Health Agency of Canada expands its wastewater surveillance sites successful nan province.

But a spokesperson for nan Public Health Agency of Canada says it only plans to trial successful four Ontario cities successful summation to its 4 existing sites successful Toronto, which won’t copy nan provincial program.

“The scope of nan description would not switch nan existent scope of the Ontario program,” Anna Maddison said successful an email Tuesday evening.

“Ontario’s determination to not proceed their wastewater testing programme was not co-ordinated pinch PHAC’s determination to grow its wastewater monitoring program.”

Alex Catherwood, property caput for the Ontario minister of nan Environment, Conservation and Parks, said successful an email that nan provincial authorities “will activity pinch nan national authorities and propose sampling sites that supply value information for nationalist wellness crossed nan province.”

The further national wastewater surveillance is expected to statesman earlier flu play this fall, Maddison said.

Razak, who is an epidemiologist and soul medicine master astatine St. Michael’s Hospital successful Toronto, said galore communities now won’t person nan microorganism monitoring they need.

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”(Wastewater surveillance) provides accusation accelerated capable for you to act. So knowing that you person tons of COVID cases successful hospital, that’s excessively precocious to enactment successful galore ways,” he said.

“We now cognize that nan awesome from wastewater — not conscionable for COVID, but for illustration for RSV — it provides an early informing strategy erstwhile nan illness is emerging, which gives capable clip for individuals to alteration their decision-making aliases (for) nationalist wellness units aliases officials to react.”

The wastewater testing sites covered astir three-quarters of Ontario’s organization successful 2023, Razak said, and besides included immoderate targeted monitoring of COVID-19 levels successful high-risk places specified arsenic semipermanent attraction homes aliases bum shelters.

“To maine this is simply a important equity issue,” he said.

“This is moving successful precisely nan other guidance of what we want successful nan champion of nationalist wellness programs.”