This past week at the Ottawa Board of Health meeting I was privileged to put forward a motion asking that the Medical Officer of Health work with local partners involved in wastewater surveillance to write to the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health offering support and encouraging collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer and Chief Science Officer encouraging the continuation of wastewater testing at the University of Ottawa.
I am so proud of the ingenuity of those who created this system. Information from wastewater surveillance has been critical in the ability to keep Ottawa residents informed and allows OPH and healthcare partners to implement early public health interventions, such as additional infection, prevention and control measures, RSV prophylaxis for at risk infants at CHEO, promoting vaccination to higher-risk populations and encouraging residents to take appropriate preventative precautions.
Ottawa’s current wastewater collection and treatment system covers more than 90% of Ottawa’s population, making it ideal for wastewater surveillance.
OPH and City of Ottawa staff have had longstanding working relationships with the University of Ottawa, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, and the Ontario Ministry of Health that have optimized wastewater testing and surveillance in Ottawa and enabling Ottawa to be a leader in demonstrating the added value of wastewater surveillance for public health.