​Metro Vancouver has launched an online tool that allows residents to track the viral load of COVID-19 detected in untreated wastewater at each of the region’s five wastewater treatment plants.

Metro Vancouver is working with the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory and the University of British Columbia. Together, the project partners are tracking the presence and trends of the COVID-19 virus in the region’s wastewater system through sampling and testing.

“Despite the ongoing rollout of multiple vaccines within the region, we know that daily transmission rates remain relatively high and several variants of COVID-19 are within our communities,” said Sav Dhaliwal, chair of the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors. “We are pleased to support the work of our local health authorities and university researchers in reaching a better understanding of the virus through innovative environmental testing at our facilities.”

The data, provided weekly, may assist health authorities to better understand the localized prevalence of the virus and to evaluate the effectiveness of public health measures intended to control transmission in the community.

Residents can click on a specific wastewater treatment plant on a map to see a snapshot of the COVID-19 virus trend for that area.

Each chart shows the amount of COVID-19 virus present per litre of wastewater that arrives at a wastewater treatment plant prior to treatment. Results are sorted by sewerage areas, which are defined catchment areas around each wastewater treatment plant.

“Studies have demonstrated that approximately 50 per cent of COVID-19 cases have the virus in their feces,” said Dr. Natalie Prystajecky, program head of environmental microbiology at BCCDC Public Health Laboratory. Prystajecky is also a clinical assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UBC. “Studying the virus in wastewater allows researchers to look at an entire population, rather than an individual person.”

The science of COVID-19 is evolving rapidly. The virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is non-infectious in feces and wastewater. Wastewater testing does not show the number of people that are infected or contagious. COVID-19 case information is available through the BC Centre for Disease Control.

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