Source: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/wastewater-tracking-shows-covid-19-doubled-in-past-month-in-ottawa/
Ottawa Citizen
Elizabeth Payne
October 8, 2020
Wastewater tracking shows COVID-19 doubled in past month in Ottawa
Samples taken from Ottawa’s sewage treatment plant show the concentration of COVID-19 in the city’s wastewater has doubled in the past month and is ten times higher than it was in June.
The findings mirror the spike in cases seen in the city since the second wave of the pandemic began. Ottawa is considered a provincial hotspot.
The wastewater tracking system, developed by local researchers, is now being used daily by Ottawa Public Health to monitor the spread of COVID-19.
Wastewater tracking has been studied by researchers in Ottawa and elsewhere since the beginning of the pandemic. But at a time when cases are increasing andthe system of testing, tracking and tracing is strained, it could have a new appeal across the province.
Wastewater sampling offers a measure of COVID-19 that is not influenced by how many people are being tested. Crucially, sampling wastewater measures virus that has been shed by people before they show symptoms and are less likely to seek, or qualify, for testing.
Ottawa Citizen
Elizabeth Payne
October 8, 2020
Wastewater tracking shows COVID-19 doubled in past month in Ottawa
Samples taken from Ottawa’s sewage treatment plant show the concentration of COVID-19 in the city’s wastewater has doubled in the past month and is ten times higher than it was in June.
The findings mirror the spike in cases seen in the city since the second wave of the pandemic began. Ottawa is considered a provincial hotspot.
The wastewater tracking system, developed by local researchers, is now being used daily by Ottawa Public Health to monitor the spread of COVID-19.
Wastewater tracking has been studied by researchers in Ottawa and elsewhere since the beginning of the pandemic. But at a time when cases are increasing andthe system of testing, tracking and tracing is strained, it could have a new appeal across the province.
Wastewater sampling offers a measure of COVID-19 that is not influenced by how many people are being tested. Crucially, sampling wastewater measures virus that has been shed by people before they show symptoms and are less likely to seek, or qualify, for testing.