Harden’s Treatment Works site.
Both the Hilltops and Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Councils have confirmed that they are not currently conducting ongoing sewerage tests for traces of COVID-19 but have conducted tests in the past and will continue to do so at the advice of NSW Public Health.
Both local councils have previously conducted tests of their water supply to comply with the Public Health Orders, although are not required to conduct weekly tests as there are no known active COVID-19 cases in the region.
A spokesperson for Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council said all their directives surrounding the issue have come from NSW Public Health and they will continue to follow it to their full capacity.
“When there was a COVID positive visitor in the Gundagai area Public Health did request us to do a sewer sample of the Gundagai Treatment Work which returned a negative result,” the CGRC spokesperson said.
“They didn’t request us to test Cootamundra’s Treatment Works at all as there were no cases over there, but we are quite prepared to do so at their advice.”
As both council areas have thankfully not been too exposed to many cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began last year ongoing testing of the sewerage treatment plants isn’t necessary at this stage.
“For a couple of weeks there were ongoing tests, but it is no longer required at the moment,” the CGRC member continued.
“We haven’t been required to do it from Public Health and if there was a possibility of any cases in the area then they would request the sample.
“But we’ve been free at this stage with only the one case who has come through and who has been in a hotspot.”
When the most recent positive case went through Gundagai a few months back, shoppers began to panic buy and empty the shelves of the local IGA.
The Hilltops Council covering the Harden, Boorowa and Young areas have also received the same consistent advice as CGRC did from NSW Health.
A spokesperson for the Hilltop Council told The Times that they would follow the current and all available direction as provided by NSW Health.
“At the Hilltops Council we’re not currently doing our own testing, so we’re just going with the advice of NSW Health and it’s their decision on where they decide to test,” the Hilltops Council spokesperson said.
“The advice from the Public Health unit to us is that it’s a specialised test and is not routinely available.
“The current locations have been decided based on areas of concern, so we’ll just follow that advice.”
The Forbes Shire Council released a video on their Facebook page this week with Mayor Phyllis Miller slating NSW Health for declining to test their sewage for traces of COVID-19 with Mayor – which has since been conducted.
Concern rose with the Forbes Shire Council after surrounding areas such as Parkes, Dubbo and Mudgee had traces of COVID-19 show up in their sewage.
Lachlan Shire Council in Condobolin have announced that they will pay for and conduct their own sewerage testing.
Tim Warren
