Background

Wastewater surveillance is an important public health monitoring tool used to detect and track viruses circulating within communities. People infected with respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and Influenza A can shed viral material in their stool, regardless of whether they have symptoms, have been tested, or were formally diagnosed. Monitoring municipal wastewater allows for the detection of viral activity across large populations and can provide an early indication of increasing community transmission and potential outbreaks. Wastewater monitoring can serve as a tool for mass public health surveillance and can assist in directing public health guidance.

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Reporting of Results

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador currently monitors wastewater for both COVID-19 and Influenza A at selected sampling locations across the province. The results of municipal wastewater surveillance can be viewed in a web mapping application developed by ESRI Canada. The COVID-19 and Influenza A Wastewater Mapping Application (featured in the top lines of this page) allows viewing of the locations of wastewater sampling, the associated sewersheds for these locations and the results of the sampling. Selecting a sampling location of interest in the application (from the list on the left) provides information on the most recent sample collected as well as historical levels of COVID-19 and Influenza A in wastewater samples in graph format.

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Strategy

COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance Strategy

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Workflow

Sample is collected from the municipal wastewater system, typically from a wastewater treatment plant before any treatment occurs.
Sample is shipped to a laboratory.
Sample is prepared and virus RNA is quantified using PCR analysis.
Results as gene copies/mL are sent to the Department.
Results are reported via the Results Dashboard.

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Sewersheds

A sewershed is an area of land where all the sewers connected to residential homes, institutions and businesses discharge to a common outfall. Sewersheds monitored for wastewater surveillance of respiratory viruses in Newfoundland and Labrador include: