B.C. expands COVID-19 wastewater monitoring to Prince George – CBC
B.C. Centre for Disease Control says lack of equipment, trained personnel kept it from expanding sooner
Oct 11, 2023
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has expanded its COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program to Prince George, and plans to include more municipalities in the province’s North.
Natalie Prystajecky, head of the Environmental Microbiology Program at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory, said the organization began monitoring wastewater in Prince George for COVID-19 this summer, and started including the data on its surveillance dashboard last week.
“We had always wanted to expand wastewater testing to all health authorities in the province,” Prystajecky told CBC’s Daybreak North. “It just took us a little bit longer to get it into the North.”
The organization monitors wastewater in Metro Vancouver, on Vancouver Island, and in the Interior. The program collects wastewater from sewage treatment plants and tests for viruses like COVID-19, Influenza A and B, and Norovirus.
