Vancouver airport to test wastewater on flights from China for COVID-19
As Canada brings in new COVID-19 restrictions for travellers arriving from China, a wastewater testing program for arriving flights is being expanded to Vancouver.
On Saturday, the federal government announced that anyone over two years of age flying from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong or Macao must present a negative COVID-19 test to board. The expansion of wastewater monitoring to YVR was included in this announcement.
"The Public Health Agency of Canada is putting in place a pilot project on wastewater testing from aircrafts with Vancouver International Airport, and expanding the existing project with Toronto Pearson International Airport, to assess the COVID-19 prevalence from various regions of the world. The samples are then sequenced to monitor for novel variants of concern," the statement said.
Vancouver's airport authority said wastewater will be sampled on flights arriving from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong, noting there are no flights to Vancouver from Macao.
"The program announced today by the federal government builds on ongoing work at YVR," an online statement said.
"Wastewater surveillance is an effective way to monitor for the presence of many pathogens and support public health decision making."
The travel measures were brought in due to a surge in cases combined with "limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available on these cases," according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Health Minister Adrian Dix issued a statement saying he 'welcomes" these updated measures,
"B.C. will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in China and around the world closely while working with federal partners to ensure the public is protected and informed of COVID-19 related concerns," he wrote, while also urging people to review the advisories in effect regarding travel to China.
The testing requirement is effective Jan., 5, 2023, will remain in place for at least 30 days, and applies regardless of nationality or vaccination status.
Canada has imposed similar testing requirements in the past in response to the emergence of new variants of concern or high case counts in other countries.
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