Identifying Local Realities and Anticipating Challenges in Building Capacity of Ontario Municipal Wastewater Systems in Tracking for SARS-CoV-2

Zobia Jawed,Sasha Voinson,Gail Krantzberg

doi:10.32861/ijwpds.72.7.20

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges that public health experts have ever faced is detecting and mitigating the community spread of COVID-19. Current clinical testing of COVID-19 patients is limited in terms of testing kits available, cost logistics, and detecting individuals that are mildly symptomatic and asymptomatic. False positives and false negatives also cloud the true picture of the pandemic. Ontario municipalities’ wastewater systems can provide new testing opportunities for a non-invasive approach in tracking and monitoring the community spread of COVID-19 through sampling raw sludge or untreated wastewater to test for SAR-CoV-2 RNA fragments. Current global and domestic research confirms the effectiveness of wastewater epidemiology surveillance of SAR-CoV-2 and can be detected even before individuals experience symptoms providing a real-time indicator for appropriate public health interventions. In collaboration with the COVID-19 Wastewater Consortium of Ontario (CWCO), an initiative of McMaster University, the objective of this research is to determine the means to optimize the current infrastructure capacity of municipal wastewater systems as an opportunity to monitor and track COVID-19 spread in the community by identifying local realities and risks. To identify local challenges, we distributed a survey amongst Ontario municipalities regarding wastewater treatment plants’ characteristics, held focus group discussions, and implemented an eight-week sampling program with CWCO’s partners. This report focuses on municipal wastewater treatment plants with in-house laboratory facilities to analyze the current capacity and limitations associated with their sampling and analysis programs. Drawing from survey responses and focus group discussions, we revealed gaps for municipalities to move forward with sample testing and data processing as well as governance challenges.

Highlights

The outbreak of the coronavirus respiratory disease (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and is reportedly caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus two (SARSCoV-2) (Mavragani, 2020; Van Caeseele et al, 2020)
As of January 31st, 2021, there are 778,972 cases confirmed in Canada, with 35% of reported cases coming from the Province of Ontario (Public Health Ontario, 2020a)
Most studies that we examined use the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) with variations in gene primers or assays to obtain qualitative and quantitative data

Summary

Introduction

The outbreak of the coronavirus respiratory disease (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and is reportedly caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus two (SARSCoV-2) (Mavragani, 2020; Van Caeseele et al, 2020). As the virus spread widely to 114 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Mavragani, 2020). As of January 31st, 2021, there are 778,972 cases confirmed in Canada, with 35% of reported cases coming from the Province of Ontario (Public Health Ontario, 2020a). Most cases are a result of close contact with infected persons in public spaces, gatherings, along with travel-related cases (Public Health Ontario, 2020b). Timeline of events in COVID-19 outbreak in Ontario (March 2020 to February 2021)

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