Wastewater COVID-19 Testing Update

The Town of Paradise has been notified by provincial Public Health that the recent COVID-19 wastewater testing for the Town is negative and that the risk to residents is low. Public Health continues to advise any residents who are experiencing just one COVID-19 symptom should arrange for testing and thanks all those who have already received testing as a result of last week’s public advisory. 

The Departments of Health and Community Services and Environment and Climate Change launched a wastewater surveillance program for COVID-19 during the outbreak in the Northeast Avalon region in February, and it now includes St. John’s, Paradise, Conception Bay South, and Gander. For Paradise, the wastewater testing is conducted by the provincial government at the St. Thomas Line Treatment Plant. Monitoring municipal wastewater for the COVID-19 virus allows Public Health to detect the virus in a large population and can provide an early warning of positive and asymptomatic cases in the community. Given that everyone goes to the washroom, wastewater monitoring consistently captures most of the population with COVID-19 and it is an effective monitoring tool.

The full Public Health update is available at: www.gov.nl.ca/releases/covid-19-news/