Since September 2020, the City of Lethbridge has been participating in COVID-19 tracking to detect levels of the virus present in fecal matter within the community’s wastewater.
More information on the program’s background and who is involved can be found here.
Doug Kaupp, the general manager of water and wastewater at the City of Lethbridge, said the city continues to collect and send three raw waste samples to the University of Alberta per week.
“We have an open channel (where) the wastewater comes in, and we simply grab a sample with a cup-on-the-end-of-a-stick kind of arrangement and it goes into a bottle that’s provided to us,” he explained.
Dr. Xiaoli Pang, a co-lead on the program, said this data continues to be publicly shared online, which has proven to be a useful tool to have as clinical testing for the virus slowed down.
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Recently she noted some interesting numbers coming out of Lethbridge.
“Lethbridge only (had) a big Omicron (variant) wave five peak, then continued decline,” the molecular virologist explained, referencing the surge in cases around this time last year.
“(We didn’t) see afterwards a wave six, wave seven, however, recently you can see another wave get to the height similar to the Omicron wave.”
Starting in early 2022, the samples were also used to track respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), most commonly found in children — as well as influenza.
According to Alberta Health Services, hospitals in the Lethbridge area are experiencing an influx of ill patients.
“Hospitals across the province and country are seeing increased demand as we see more respiratory illness and more patients with severe illness. It is no different in Lethbridge,” a statement read.
AHS is currently dealing with some staffing challenges, which the health authority said is not a new issue.
“Our hospitals are able to accommodate patients over 100 per cent of normal capacity at peak times. There has been no impact on surgeries.”
Pang said the wastewater sampling and sharing of results will remain status quo through to at least the end of June, as they await the possibility of more government funding to extend the research beyond that time.
“The obligation on our end is really quite light, and we can continue to do this for the foreseeable future without any trouble,” Kaupp said.
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