NEWSWIRE | PRESS RELEASE

Haines Junction Pilot Project Gets Under Way, More Wastewater Sampling Sites Expected in 2023

(WHITEHORSE, YUKON) As part of a holistic approach to community health and wellness, wastewater monitoring is emerging as an innovative way to detect the location and concentration of potentially harmful viruses across Canada.

In Yukon, a new initiative aims to establish a network of sampling sites across the territory to explore how wastewater data can be used to alert community stakeholders when highly potentially harmful transmissible diseases are detected in your neck of the woods.

Following the launch of the first community wastewater monitoring project in Haines Junction in 2022, the Council of Yukon First Nations, working in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the National Microbiology Laboratory, is encouraging  more communities to introduce wastewater monitoring solutions as a way to keep community members informed and help curb the transmission of infectious diseases at the community level.

The One Yukon team (mobilized by the Council of Yukon First Nations to help lead Yukon’s COVID-19 response) will have a role to play as well, supporting readiness and outreach activities with the aim to provide weekly wastewater report summaries to and give communities instant access to the latest data, key findings and alerts.

Quotes:

“Wastewater data will play an important role to support community health and wellness and will provide Yukon leaders, families and visitors with timely information that supports informed decision making. Establishing a network of monitoring sites will be instrumental to improving how we approach community-to-community travel, community events, workplace safety, school safety, elder care and so much more.”

“By raising awareness of wastewater data and trends at the community level we can help prevent the spread of potentially harmful viruses and take important steps to keep our elders, our families and the most vulnerable members of our communities safe.”

– Math’ieya Alatini, President of One Yukon Coalition, Kluane First Nation Citizen