Sewage surveillance: Wastewater could fill COVID-19 testing gaps, experts say
Global News
Researchers across the country have been undertaking wastewater surveillance, looking for trace amounts of the coronavirus in sewage to see how it's spreading.
With some jurisdictions limiting PCR testing for COVID-19 and others increasingly overwhelmed by diagnostic demands, experts have stressed that daily case counts no longer paint the full picture of viral levels within communities.
But what we flush down the toilet may give us a better understanding of COVID-19’s prevalence.
Researchers across the country have been undertaking wastewater surveillance since early in the pandemic, looking for trace amounts of the virus in sewage to see how it’s spreading.
Those involved in the laborious process say it’s not a perfect measurement of COVID-19 levels, but it can help show where viral activity is propagating.
And when testing capacity is overrun and cases are underreported, wastewater surveillance becomes particularly beneficial, they say.
“Right now we’ve got this problem where we’ve hit the limit for getting tested,” said Mark Servos, a University of Waterloo researcher involved in surveillance at a number of Ontario sites. “But wastewater doesn’t care whether there’s clinical testing occurring or whether people are symptomatic or asymptomatic.
“Everybody who poops into the pipe, we’re going to include them in our analysis.”
Ontario announced Thursday it was tightening eligibility for PCR testing, reserving the publicly funded diagnostic for high-risk individuals who are symptomatic and those most vulnerable to severe disease.