Prof. Robert Delatolla holds up wastewater samples his lab at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, on Sept. 14, 2022.
Ottawa Public Health wants to collaborate with local partners to look for ways to continue wastewater monitoring after the province cuts funding to the program next month.Ottawa Public Health wants to collaborate with local partners to look for ways to continue wastewater monitoring after the province cuts funding to the program next month.
Robert Delatolla, a professor and wastewater researcher at the U of O, said hospitals including CHEO use the data to prepare for surges in infectious diseases and initiate preventative measures. "We were upping staffing in the emergency departments, how many isolation beds we needed, things like that. So this data has been incredibly important, and three to five days' lead time can make a big difference," she said.
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, provides an update on the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Ottawa on March 11, 2020. Wastewater researchers in other cities, including at the University of Waterloo, have also voiced their concerns about the provincial program coming to an end.A PHAC spokesperson told CBC News in an email that in Ontario, the agency currently performs testing at four wastewater treatment plants in Toronto as part of the federal monitoring program.
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