Researchers at the University of Ottawa are using the wastewater testing strategy that has helped track the ebbs and flows of coronavirus and applying it to influenza. Patrick D'Aoust, a PhD candidate in the faculty of engineering, said the idea came from one his colleagues, Elisabeth Mercier, and the success of the wastewater testing used to track levels of coronavirus in Ottawa. "She said, 'You know we're looking [for] COVID-19. It's an RNA virus. Why don't we just start looking at other RNA viruses?" D'Aoust said.