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
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.