End to wastewater monitoring program in Ontario 'frustrating,' researcher says
CBC
The province's decision to scrap a program to test wastewater means research being done at the University of Waterloo will come to an end.
Mark Servos is a biology professor at UW and the Canada research chair in water quality protection. He's been leading research into the surveillance program for the Region of Waterloo and other regions in the province and says they looked for more than just COVID-19 markers in the water. The researchers also were able to track levels of influenza A, influenza B, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and other contaminants.
Servos says he's disappointed funding for the wastewater testing will end as of July 31.
"It's going to essentially leave the public health units without this tool to be able to plan for hospitalizations and increases and changes in these respiratory viruses," he said.
The province announced earlier this month it was cutting funding for the program, which has been run by a dozen universities and research sites, through funding from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in an email to CBC News the move will "avoid duplication" with a federal program.
WATCH | Sudden cut to wastewater testing 'frustrating' for researcher:
The move has been criticized by some, including Dr. Nicola Mercer, the medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
"The WDG Public Health board of health believes that continuing the wastewater surveillance program is a valuable tool to protect the health of our region. With their support, I will continue to work with the province to explore ways to keep this information available to us," Mercer said in an emailed statement.
Dr. Thomas Piggott, the medical officer of health in Peterborough, said on the social media website X, formerly Twitter, that he was "deeply disappointed" that funding had been cut.
"The program costs are a small fraction of what individual-level testing for infectious disease are and we've learned are a really efficient and helpful way to monitor community transmission of COVID-19 and other pathogens," Piggott wrote.
CBC News asked Region of Waterloo Public Health for comment on the program coming to an end, but the agency said only that national data will continue to be available through the federal government's website.
NDP MPP Chandra Pasma, who represents Ottawa West-Nepean, shared a letter on X signed by herself and three other NDP MPPs to the province asking the ministry to reconsider the decision to cancel the program.
The letter says the MPPs "fail to grasp why Ontario would close labs" because "this research has been shown to save costs for our health-care system."
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