as provincial funding ends, ottawa's wastewater surveillance will continue for now
the globally recognized program tests wastewater for influenza, rsv and other diseases in addition to the virus that causes covid-19.
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the ottawa wastewater surveillance program tests for influenza, rsv and other diseases in addition to the virus that causes covid-19.
michelle berg
/
postmedia
ottawa’s wastewater surveillance program will continue after the ontario government ends funding on july 31, a memo from board of health chair catherine kitts confirms. in a memo sent to mayor mark sutcliffe and council members wednesday, kitts said the surveillance initiative, operated and managed under robert delatolla’s team at the university of ottawa, would remain as it is while discussions about longer-term solutions continued.
but the program’s future is far from secure.
delatolla said he would use research funds to enable his lab to continue the same amount and frequency of wastewater testing as it had been doing. but that will likely last about two months “as we wait to hear the plans from the public health agency of canada (phac).”
the province announced earlier this year that it would stop funding for the highly regarded program as of the end of july — at a savings of around $15 million.
provincial officials said then that the federal government was expanding its own wastewater surveillance initiative and they wanted to avoid overlap. the federal government currently has four wastewater surveillance sites in the toronto area and has said it wants to add four or five more. ontario’s program, one of the world’s most extensive, gathers information at more than 50 locations.
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this week, liberal mpp ted hsu from kingston and the islands said members of his staff had contacted phac and were told its wastewater surveillance program was not meant to replace ontario’s existing program.
meanwhile, kitts said that ottawa public health medical officer of health dr. vera etches had sent letters to federal and provincial public health officials “seeking to collaborate to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of high-quality wastewater surveillance in ottawa.”
ottawa public health has also been working with uottawa and “numerous local and provincial partners to explore ways to ensure continuation of this program,” the memo said.
longer-term solutions are still being explored.
kitts noted there had been no further details from the public health agency of canada about plans to expand its program. wastewater testing, she said, has been an important public health tool.
“local wastewater testing for infectious diseases has proven to be a valid, near real-time and reliable method of unbiased public health surveillance and a leading indicator of community transmission, and is an important tool for local public health units, including ottawa public health, and numerous local health partners,” she said.
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information from wastewater surveillance has helped keep ottawa residents informed and allows ottawa public health and health-care partners to implement early public health interventions, including additional infection prevention and control measures, rsv prophylaxis for high-risk infants at cheo and promotion of vaccination to higher-risk populations, she said.
the end of provincial funding for the globally recognized program that tests wastewater for influenza, rsv and other diseases, in addition to the virus that causes covid-19, comes at a time when cases of covid are spiking in ottawa and elsewhere in ontario as a new, highly contagious variant spreads.
some other communities in the province have said they are taking steps to continue wastewater testing, at least in the short term.
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