Ontario's COVID-19 wastewater testing program gets an $18M boost

Ontario's COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance program is slated to continue for the next year thanks to an $18.7-million investment from the provincial government.

Since March 2022 researchers across the province have tested wastewater from municipalities across Ontario to measure the prevalence of COVID-19 in seven regions.

Gustavo Ybazeta, a researcher with the Health Sciences North Institute in Sudbury, said the program provides valuable data to health units and municipalities so they can respond to the virus.

"You know, actions or interventions that will help to avoid the spread of outbreaks or have more people infected," he said.

Ybazeta said that with PCR testing on the decline, findings from wastewater testing, along with the number hospitalizations due to COVID-19, are the two most important pieces of information to understand the virus' prevalence in the community.

As of March 25, Public Health Sudbury and Districts said the COVID-19 risk for the region was "moderate" based on findings from wastewater testing, along with other factors, such as hospitalizations and outbreaks in long-term care homes.

Now that a research network is in place across 13 universities and several research institutes, Ybazeta said his colleagues can also test wastewater for other pathogens like the influenza virus.

"We have a unique opportunity to have surveillance that we can use to avoid another big outbreak," he said.

In Sudbury, Ybazeta said there are eight researchers involved in the project.

Had the province not continued to fund the program, he said it would have been difficult to get it up and running again, if needed.