Public Health Ontario says a new science advisory table will have its first meeting in October and will provide advice on COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
The provincial government agency says the new team will provide it and the Ministry of Health with scientific and technical public health guidance.
The new team will be known as the Ontario Public Health Emergencies Science Advisory Committee and will be composed of 15 core members who are outside of Public Health Ontario.
The agency says it will continue to provide COVID-19 surveillance data, including case trends and wastewater data.
The new advisory group replaces the current science table, which will have its COVID-19 dashboard discontinued next week.
The old science table has raised numerous concerns about the new group, including a lack of independence in selecting topics to pursue and worries that the group’s ability to communicate findings to the public could be hampered.
