Brandon excluded from COVID-19 wastewater study

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/01/2022 (1355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal government is monitoring COVID-19 levels in Manitobans’ waste, but Brandon isn’t included in the study.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is observing virus levels in wastewater at three sites in Winnipeg, according to a federal spokesperson, but nowhere outside the provincial capital.

Brandon’s Wastewater Treatment Facility is likely capable of monitoring COVID-19 levels in Brandonites’ waste but hasn’t been asked to, said City of Brandon director of utilities Alexia Stangherlin.

“If public health was in touch with us directly and wanted to partner with us on it, we certainly would join forces, but to add it to our existing program with our current resources, it just wasn’t possible at this point,” she said. The city has not investigated in detail what would be required to do the testing.

The facility’s operating licence under the province’s Environment Act already requires city staff to test the quality of wastewater released into the environment. Staff monitor nitrogen, phosphorus and a number of other factors, she said.

Monitoring virus levels in wastewater, which comes from what is flushed down the toilet, can give health officials a five- to 10-day early warning on the spread of COVID-19 in a community, according to PHAC. It allows health officials to take action before outbreaks occur and hopefully stem the spread of the virus.

The agency can also sequence samples to identify variants of concern.

A provincial spokesperson said Manitoba Health was not involved in the federal government’s monitoring of COVID-19 in Winnipeg’s wastewater.

“Provincial staff have been informed that the National Virology Lab has taken some wastewater samples prior to treatment from Winnipeg’s wastewater treatment plants for testing for COVID. Provincial staff [have] not participated in the investigation.”

On Nov. 25, 2020, during the second wave of the pandemic, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the province was working on wastewater analysis of COVID-19 levels but it hadn’t started yet. At the time, he said the process is more beneficial as an early warning alarm when the province isn’t seeing as high levels of transmission.

“As we get the numbers down, if we have, say, remote communities or other communities that really have no activity, this might give us an early warning indicator that something is starting to happen there. So there are uses for it,” he said at the time.

The Sun asked why Winnipeg was the only municipality in the province to have its wastewater tested but did not receive a direct answer.

The Public Health Agency of Canada, in conjunction with Statistics Canada, is also doing wastewater surveillance in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, according to a spokesperson. Approximately 60 per cent of the country’s population is covered by wastewater COVID-19 testing.

“Wastewater surveillance is conducted in collaboration with communities and local health authorities to inform public health action and decision-making,” a statement on the agency’s website reads.

“[The Public Health Agency of Canada] is working with other provincial/territorial partners to onboard other municipalities and locations, or provide support for local testing as needed, for expanding wastewater surveillance as an early warning sign for public health action and decisions.”

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_