“we’re measuring a signal of how much virus is out there … the trends over time are very consistent,” he said.
but hrudey cautioned that wastewater testing can’t identify the individuals who are sick, how many people are infected, vaccination status, or how sick each person is.
“wastewater testing is not, i repeat not, n-o-t, a replacement for clinical testing. never. not intended to be, and definitely is not an alternative,” he said.
in an email, bourdeau said individual testing and wastewater monitoring are two different ways the government is looking at the impacts of covid-19 on a region, and sewage testing gives public health officials insight into the level of the virus in a community.
“in fact, it can provide more accurate data on the intensity of covid in a community, where individual testing only reflects the results of those who choose to get tested,” he said. “we know that there are individuals who have covid but never get tested, so they are unreported.”
he said other types of virus surveillance are “used together to provide public health with the information it requires to monitor the pandemic and transition to endemic covid 19.”
the university of alberta has also been working on a
similar study
monitoring for outbreaks in long-term care by sampling manholes directly connected to a site. researchers also hope this type of testing could be used to monitor other viral outbreaks in the future.