Why Saskatoon's COVID-19 trend could be cause for cautious optimism
With the University of Saskatchewan research team monitoring the city's wastewater for signs of COVID-19 noting an 85 per cent drop in its latest update, experts in the city say the trend is cause for cautious optimism.
“All the people that I've known that had it are recovered and back to work, so I think that was reflected in our numbers,” said John Giesy, one of the researchers.
Giesy believes the findings are a signal that the city has passed the peak of the sixth wave of COVID-19.
“It's springtime, and so that's generally when things trend down, and now we've got a lot of people with immunity.”
Nazeem Muhajarine, an epidemiologist based at the university, agrees.
“Omicron has infected all of the susceptible people who it could infect, and maybe it is sort of on its way out,” he said.
“I have to say that very, very cautiously because it's still high, Omicron, and there's so many people are getting COVID-19 and it's all Omicron.”
Muhajarine says the decrease also coincides with the rollout of second booster doses for people aged 50 and over.
“A lot of people are lining up and a lot of people are making appointments and bookings and getting their second booster dose,” he said.
“It'd be nice to see another week, another two weeks of continuing decrease of this viral load viral material in the wastewater and that will give us more confidence that we are really seeing that trend.”
In its most recent weekly Covid-19 report, the province says other respiratory viruses have higher test positivity in Saskatchewan than COVID-19, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with 14 per cent test positivity, influenza at 12 per cent, and enterorhinovirus at 11 per cent.
Muhajarine says he would expect to see other respiratory viruses present in the winter rather than spring and summer.
Also concerning to Muhajarine is long COVID.
“Some large studies have found up to 30 to 33 per cent of people who are initially infected still have persistent symptoms and signs, persistent organ effect, effects in the brain, gut, lung, heart, all these organ systems, effected long after that initial infection,” he said.
“We don't know everything we need to know about long COVID either, so I really think that people who are hesitant into getting a booster dose, first or second, you really should be getting that because that's actually how you keep long COVID at bay.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.