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home / 世界杯决赛2022

saskatchewan wastewater shows viral load of covid-19 'relatively low'

the total viral load of covid-19 remains 'relatively low' in three sask. cities, which indicates a fairly constant level of infection.

by saskatoon starphoenix

aug 1 2022
read time 2 minute read
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the total viral load of covid-19 remains “relatively low” in three saskatchewan cities, scientists say, which indicates a fairly constant level of infection in the province.
tests of the sewage in saskatoon and north battleford showed the omicron variant ba. 5 now represents around half of the viral rna load in saskatoon, university of saskatchewan toxicologist dr. john giesy wrote in an email. saskatoon’s data was for the week to july 27, while north battleford data was collected in the week to july 22.
in saskatoon the viral load increased by nearly 22 per cent since the last report however, indicating infections are on the rise. in north battleford’s viral load also increased — by more than 200 per cent — but giesy said levels there were still within the low range recorded since january.
prince albert — where levels were also within the low range recorded since january — is displaying a different pattern, with data collected in the week to july 25 showing omicron variants ba. 2.1.12 and ba. 2 fuelling almost all of the infections in that city.
“at this point essentially all of the viral load (in saskatchewan) is due to the omicron variant,” giesy said.
giesy is part of a u of s team measuring covid-19 through wastewater. people infected with the virus contain traces of it in their feces. by measuring the viral load in a city’s sewage, researchers are able to approximate how many people in that city are infected with covid-19, even if those people themselves do not know it.
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since saskatchewan no longer reports daily covid-19 data and relies on rapid antigen tests for testing in the general population, wastewater data is one of the best indicators available for how the virus is spreading.

an epidemiological report released recently by saskatchewan’s government confirms the province is seeing rising numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

the province has announced it will begin offering fourth doses of covid-19 vaccines to more of the general population as soon as mid-august in the hopes those shots will blunt any effect on the province’s hospitals.
only about 11 per cent of residents in the province have received a fourth shot and overall vaccine uptake has stagnated.
an internal sha report said that 19 per cent of the province’s population has not received a covid-19 vaccine. a further five per cent have only got one dose. the internal sha presentation said that means saskatchewan has the highest rate of unvaccinated people among canadian provinces.
only about about half of adults have got the third shot, something doctors say further reduces the odds of severe illness or death.
data compiled by the ministry of health says people with a booster are three times less likely to be hospitalized and six times less likely to die of covid-19 than someone who is unvaccinated, adjusted across age groups.
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with files from zak vescera
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