GNWT expands wastewater surveillance to Fort Liard

News Releases

Yellowknife — April 13, 2021

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) recently added the community of Fort Liard to the Northwest Territories’ (NWT) program to test human wastewater for the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19. 

The first wastewater samples from Fort Liard were collected in March via sampling devices installed on effluent pipes on the community’s trucked sewer system.

Fort Liard joins six other NWT communities where wastewater surveillance is being conducted. The other communities are Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells and Yellowknife.

Fort Liard was identified as a priority community for wastewater testing because of  its proximity to northern B.C. communities that have seen a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases.

Wastewater surveillance is a cost-effective way to test for COVID-19. Positive test results (signals) in a community with no known COVID-19 cases can help public health officials to take action that will reduce viral spread.

The territory’s wastewater samples are analyzed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, and also at the GNWT’s Environment and Natural Resources’ (ENR) Taiga Laboratory. Results are compared in a quality assurance process before Taiga Lab begins leading all wastewater testing for NWT samples.

NWT wastewater test results are available online 5-10 days after collection, following review by the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (see NWT COVID-19 dashboard at https://www.gov.nt.ca/covid-19/).

The surveillance program is a collaboration among community governments, the departments of ENR, Municipal and Community Affairs and Health and Social Services, and the Public Health Agency of Canada, including the National Microbiology Laboratory.

The program is expected to be in place for the next 12 months. 

Quote

“Information is power in a pandemic. The addition of Fort Liard to the GNWT’s wastewater surveillance program gives another community access to more information that can help keep them safe during the pandemic. Wastewater surveillance provides us with an early warning system to detect COVID-19 and we thank our partners for collaborating with us to operate this program. It is a valuable resource as we work to keep the virus at bay in our territory.”

- Julie Green, Minister of Health and Social Services

Quick facts

  • Over 50 per cent of the NWT’s population is covered by the wastewater surveillance program, including all communities with isolation centres.
  • Sampling and testing methods differ for piped and trucked sewer systems. The first communities participating in the wastewater surveillance program were chosen based on having piped collection systems that lend themselves to autosampler equipment used to collect wastewater samples.
  • The ability to do wastewater surveillance in additional communities is being assessed in relation to public health needs and available technology and resources.
  • In addition to the laboratory services and expertise from the Public Health Agency of Canada, federal funding from Health Canada ($216,000) and Indigenous Services Canada ($275,000) has been instrumental in supporting one-time and ongoing costs for the GNWT’s wastewater surveillance program.

Related links

 

Media Requests, please contact:

Darren Campbell

Manager, COVID-19 Communications 

Health and Social Services

COVID-19 Coordinating Secretariat

Government of the Northwest Territories

Darren_P_Campbell@gov.nt.ca