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The newest COVID-19 wastewater studies show that numbers are climbing throughout Saskatchewan.
In Saskatoon, there was a 39.9 per cent increase for COVID positive samples in Saskatoon compared to the previous week, Prince Albert saw an increase of 74.1 per cent and North Battleford saw an increase of 96.6 per cent up until Sept. 5.
#USaskResearch: The SARS-CoV-2 viral load in #YXE wastewater has increased by 39.9% in the past week, according to analysis by #USask scientists. Follow @usask_water for more #Saskatchewan wastewater data and updates. https://t.co/pK6ZuqNRi9
— U of Saskatchewan (@usask) September 12, 2022
The numbers in Saskatoon are especially significant. According to the report, it’s the fourth-highest value observed during the pandemic.
In Regina, the numbers aren’t as high as other places in the province, but there is still a steady climb according to U of R microbiologist Dr. Tzu-Chiao Chao.
“What we are seeing is a constant increase over the last few weeks,” Chao said. “It really looks like a slow and steady increase of cases in the city.
“It’s kind of difficult to predict basically what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks.”
The weekly @CityofRegina wastewater report is here! 🚽
In the last reporting period the increasing trend continued and has reached more than double the viral load of the highest point in the Alpha wave.@LutherEdu @EPCOR @SaskHealth #YQR pic.twitter.com/PgqiQyyzrq
— University of Regina (@UofRegina) September 12, 2022
Chao says with it being the start of the school season, he could see that as a reason for the increase.
According to Chao, the BA.5 COVID strain appears to be the main one circulating in Regina, much like in Saskatoon and North Battleford. Meanwhile, the BA.2 strain is the dominant one in Prince Albert.
Heading into the winter, Chao says we could see new strains begin to develop.
“It’s possible that in the winter we get a rise of new variants coming into the area. In this case, we would potentially see a significant jump upwards,” he said. “And if not, it could be that it’s a slippery creek upward.”
Chao says there are a lot of factors that could dictate where cases go moving forward.
“It could also decline again because then they’ve got so many previous infections that it doesn’t enable it to spread that much anymore,” Chao said. “It really depends on how many people have been affected, how many of those that have been affected have built up immunity and how long does immunity really last.”
Chao said the numbers now show about double the viral load compared to the peak of the Alpha wave peak in April of 2021.
“If you consider that at the height of the Alpha wave there was a high risk of getting infected, the risk now is much higher,” said Chao, noting the province is at 60 per cent of the highest levels recorded during the Omicron wave, which is double the peak of the Alpha wave.
“We are not at the highest levels that we’ve seen in the city so far, but we are past basically the dip that we’ve seen through the summer.”
The Moderna bivalent vaccine is available in Saskatchewan as of Monday.
Saskatchewan is receiving around 90,000 doses of the Health Canada-approved vaccine over the next two weeks. The bivalent vaccine protects against the original strain of COVID and provides protection against Omicron variants as well.
People wanting to get the Moderna bivalent booster dose should wait at least four months after their most-recent COVID vaccination, no matter how many doses they’ve received to date.
The dose is currently available to anyone 18 and over who lives in long-term care and personal care homes as well as other congregate living facilities.