the institute updates with the latest information on mondays. the most recent study, from april 21 to thursday, shows a 70 per cent drop in the covid-19 viral load.
that analysis suggests a drop in covid-19 cases is coming for saskatoon. the percentage of cases identified as the b.1.1.7 variant of concern has also dropped from more than 80 per cent in the previous study to 70 per cent.
the results suggest the p.1 variant first identified in brazil was also likely present, but in too small an amount to quantify.
giesy speculated that people may continue shedding the b.1.1.7 variant for longer than thought, so the previous results may have reflected that. but he and his colleagues are stumped.
“i really can’t (explain it),” said giesy, a u of s professor and canada research chair in environmental toxicology. “i don’t know what caused it. but i’m sure it’s real. we run all these things in triplicate and then periodically i split samples with the national microbiology (laboratory) in winnipeg.”
the province reported 586 new cases in the saskatoon zone in the 12 days from april 20 to sunday, lower than the 598 cases from april 7 to 19. the province also processed significantly more tests from april 20 to may 2 (11,578) than from april 7 to 19 (9,726).