As yet another COVID wave takes hold in Canada and across the world, and confirmations come in that COVID infections still outnumber flu cases, lead to more hospitalizations and deaths than the flu, and lead to more long-term serious health concerns, Ontario's Conservative government is scrimping and saving and abandoning the only only real public health testing scheme the province has, with its announcement that it is winding down its waste water monitoring system.
Considered a vital resource for monitoring new COVID variants, as well as trends in influenza, avian flu, etc, sampling of water from sewage systems gives public health officials an important heads up on how things are developing. It is an effective and cost-efficient resource, that costs the province between $10 million and $15 million annually, chump change in the provincial scheme of things. Health experts are united in condemning the move.
And in case you thought COVID had gone away, it is very much still with us, and even having a resurgence. About 40 people die from it each week in Canada, and don't even get me started on the risks of long COVID.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones argues that the province is just cutting a superfluous system that duplicates the existing federal waste water testing system. But, as the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirms, the federal scheme is much smaller (just four testing sites in Ontario, all of them in Toronto), and cannot be considered comparable.
A PHAC spokesperson explains, in the clearest of terms: "Federal waste water water monitoring programs do not duplicate the work done by Ontario's waste water program". They also confirm that Ontario's decision to shut down its program was not coordinated with PHAC.
So, Ms. Jones and Mr. Ford are just plain lying to save a few bucks to subsidize their plan to get people to drink more beer? Well, why am I surprised?
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