John Giesy: Latest News

COVID-19 present. And the samples didn’t pick up the subvariants scientists previously couldn’t identify.The viral load dropped 85.3 per cent in Saskatoon, 90.2 per cent in North Battleford and 65.7 per cent in Prince Albert, from the week prior.Toxicologist John Giesy, team lead at the USask Global Institute for Water Security, which takes the measurements, called the numbers good news.

COVID-19 present in Prince Albert’s wastewater has more than doubled.The latest findings from the University of Saskatchewan monitoring team show the amount of virus RNA jumped up 112.7 per cent over the previous reporting period. COVID had him on his deathbed, then frontline hospital workers saved this Sask man’s life USask toxicologist John Giesy told Global News “100 per cent is a doubling.”“It sounds like a lot, but it’s about typical for what we see when we’re on the upward swing in one of these waves.

COVID-19 wastewater numbers could indicate another pandemic wave is forming in Saskatchewan.But how bad that wave becomes, a doctor said, depends on how the public responds — especially since the health-care system is already strained.“By seeing an increase happening right now, we will be tipping the health-care system into that strain level again,” epidemiologist and Saskatchewan Health Agency senior interim public health officer Dr. Cory Neudorf told Global News.

COVID-19 wastewater numbers show the amount of virus in two cities remain relatively unchanged and decreased in a third.But they also show the more transmissible BA.2 strain of the Omicron variant is spreading.The new strain now accounts for 70 per cent of all detected COVID-19 RNA in North Battleford wastewater, up from just below 50 per cent the week prior. China battles multiple COVID-19 outbreaks, driven by ‘stealth omicron’ variant In Saskatoon, BA.2 accounts for 42.5 per cent, up from 19 per cent.And in Prince Albert BA.2 now makes up 13.6 per cent of detected COVID samples, which increased from around five per cent.Almost all of the remaining detected virus in Prince Albert and North Battleford is BA.1, the original Omicron strain.A little more than 15 per cent of the virus RNA in Saskatoon’s wastewater is neither BA.2 or BA.1.Toxicologist John Giesy, who runs the University of Saskatchewan Global Institute for Water Security, which measures the amounts in the three cities, said it’s likely Alpha or Delta, though he couldn’t be sure.He also couldn’t say how the strain may affect Saskatchewan residents and hospitals, because the lack of timely government data and public health orders, combined with a largely vaccinated population, makes it harder to determine patterns.

COVID-19 wastewater data has offered clarity throughout the pandemic, providing glimpses into what cities and hospitals could be facing in the coming weeks. And it remains one of the only sources of timely information regarding the spread of the coronavirus in the province.But the lead scientist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security, which monitors the levels of virus RNA in the wastewater of three cities in the province, told Global News the information is not as helpful as it once was.“What I used to be able to do was get on the (COVID-19) dashboard for the province and take those numbers off of there and put them into my calculations,” toxicologist John Giesy said.“Well, I can’t do that anymore.” Saskatchewan students and teachers react to COVID-19 restrictions lifting Giesy said the numbers can still show trends and overall increases or decreases in the amount of COVID in cities.

COVID-19 in the province’s wastewater continues to rise and the total amount remains very high.The latest numbers from the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security show the average amount of virus RNA rose 19.3 per cent in Saskatoon, 28.4 per cent in Prince Albert and 29.5 per cent in North Battleford, respectively, over the week prior.But toxicologist and member of the wastewater surveillance team John Giesy told Global News the slight increases bely a substantial amount of the COVID-19 in the cities. Interactive: Inside COVID’s rehabilitation hospitals We’re still one-and-a-half to two times higher than we’ve ever been before,” he said.Saskatoon likely has passed the peak amount of the virus, Giesy said.

Omicron sub-lineage in Saskatoon.John Giesy, a toxicologist leading the University of Saskatchewan COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance project, said it seems only a few people likely have the new subvariant, based on the small number of samples they spotted, but that’s enough to confirm it is in the city.“Bottom line is, it’s here,” Giesy said in an interview.“And in the next few weeks, I’m sure we’ll pick up more of the bad news.” BA.2 in Canada — Tam says officials are watching new Omicron subvariant ‘very closely’ Early research from Denmark and the U.K. shows the sub-lineage may be around 33 per cent more transmissible than the already very infectious Omicron variant.Giesy said scientists around the world are working to determine if the BA.2 strain will be more severe or if it will be better able to escape immunity, though he stressed it’s very new and so it’s hard to know what impact it will have.But, given how transmissible it is, he said there’s a good chance it will replace BA.1, the dominant variant that accounts for nearly all detected COVID-19 in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford, just as Omicron replaced the Delta variant in two weeks.“We still find Delta, it’s still there,” Giesy said.“But its percentage is so low it hardly shows up.

COVID-19 wastewater numbers for three major Saskatchewan cities spiked in the past 10 days, with an increase of nearly 900 per cent in Prince Albert. But a toxicologist said the figures are no cause for alarm.That’s because that increase, and the accompanying jumps in Saskatoon and North Battleford of 614 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively, show a small increase over an even small number.They’re not symptoms of a massive surge in the virus, John Giesy told Global News.

University of Saskatchewan’s analysis of Saskatoon’s wastewater shows COVID-19 is surging in the city.The data shows between late July and Aug. 4, the virus spiked almost 400 per cent in two weeks, rising by 253 per cent and a further 118 per cent over the past two weeks.

COVID-19 in Saskatoon’s wastewater has risen by 253 per cent since last week, according to new numbers from University of Saskatchewan researchers.Toxicologist John Giesy told Global News he doesn’t believe the massive increase will result in a similar rise in diagnosed new cases or hospitalizations like it has it the past, but he did say the cause of the surge could portent a coming fourth wave.“Our best estimate is that it’s about 60 per cent delta variant right now,” he said. Delta variant doubling B.C.