The Minister of Environment and Climate Change is touting the success of wastewater testing to determine the extent of undetected COVID-19 infections in a region.
Testing at the Regional Wastewater Facility in St. John’s picked up a spike in COVID infection during the outbreak in February, and a subsequent drop when the case numbers started to subside.
Minister Bernard Davis says the testing has proven effective and they’re open to implementing similar wastewater testing in other areas as another tool to pick up future outbreaks earlier.
The department is exploring all options in other parts of the province. The process is already in progress in places like Gander and CBS.
Feb 23, 2021 – Province Testing St. John’s Region Wastewater for Prevalence of COVID-19