This is the first webinar in a 2-part series; the subsequent webinar will be held at 2:00 pm EST on the same day.
The detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater is a tool that can potentially inform public health decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although research is underway across the globe, methods and techniques are still far from standardized, which can make it challenging for municipalities and public health units to confidently apply methods in their own community and benefit from this complementary indicator.
From July to September, Canadian Water Network led an Inter-Laboratory Study with a cross-section of eight laboratories who had demonstrated experience in RT-qPCR. The first session of this two-part webinar series will present the key findings from this collaborative study and focus on critical considerations for optimizing the methods used. Scientists from the participating labs will share their methodologies, highlight important QA/QC considerations and respond to questions. The subsequent webinar will pivot to current use cases of wastewater-based epidemiology efforts deployed across Canada and explore both the challenges and opportunities.