Several Canadian universities are preparing to test wastewater from long-term care homes in Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton to get early warnings of COVID-19 outbreaks. Researchers in municipalities in six provinces are already testing wastewater for traces of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease. A team at the University of Alberta also plans to start testing at long-term care homes with federal support, she said. 0:36MacKenzie said applying wastewater testing to long-term care homes could be a way to ease the strain on front line workers. "Eighty-eight per cent of people who have died from COVID so far have been residents of long-term care homes," she said.

Source: CBC News November 29, 2020 21:56 UTC