COVID-19: BA.2 Omicron variant now dominant in three Saskatchewan cities’ wastewater
Wastewater samples of COVID-19 RNA show the more transmissible BA.2 subvariant of Omicron now comprises most of the detected virus in three cities.BA.2 accounts for 78.9 per cent of all detected virus samples in Saskatoon, up from 34.1 per cent in the previous reporting period.The subvariant comprises 81.1 per cent of the virus detected in Prince Albert, increasing from 17.9 per cent.
And it makes up 68.6 per cent of the wastewater in North Battleford, increasing from 49.4 per cent. COVID-19 still spreading among children, Saskatchewan government data shows The overall amounts decreased from the previous week, by 74.4 per cent in Saskatoon, 91.8 per cent in Prince Albert and by 56 per cent in North Battleford.Markus Brinkmann, a University of Saskatchewan environmental toxicologist who is part of the team that monitors the wastewater, told Global News the overall amounts remain very high.“We do not see a drop that goes back to background levels in between waves, though we’re still at pretty high readings,” he said.“And that, to us, also indicates that there is still a pretty high risk of infection.”Brinkmann said it is important to watch both sets of numbers.
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