“The reality is that as all of the restrictions come off in terms of masking and the other measures which have been in place for some period of time, we can expect that more cases are going to be out there,” said Dr. Steve Hrudey, chair of the research advisory group of the Canadian Water Network COVID 19 Wastewater Coalition.
“The next few days to weeks are going to be important to watch,” he said.
2:05 COVID-19: What is wastewater testing, and how effective is it?
COVID-19: What is wastewater testing, and how effective is it? – Jan 22, 2022
The wastewater signals are correlating with the reported infections through testing, but they paint a more accurate and full picture of how prevalent COVID-19 actually is in the community, experts say.
People infected with COVID-19 can shed the coronavirus through their stool, even if they do not have any symptoms, making the testing of a community’s sewage an important tool that can work in tandem with clinical testing data, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
“Wastewater testing provides a true picture of COVID-19 community health, especially in the current situation when resources for clinical testing may be limited in some areas,” said Anna Maddison, a PHAC spokesperson, in an emailed statement to Global News.
So what is Canada’s sewage water telling us about the latest COVID-19 spread?
In the province of Ontario, following a dip in February, COVID-19 cases started spiking in early March, coinciding with the province’s phased reopening.
This is according to the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, which is monitoring data from across 101 wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and sewer sheds in 34 public health units.
Data source: Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table
Dr. Peter Juni, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Toronto and scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said since Tuesday they have seen a “relatively steep increase” in coronavirus prevalence in the wastewater consistently in all regions in the province.
He said together with test positivity, the wastewater data is an early indicator that “as expected, we’re seeing a resurgence now.”
“There is a lag between what we are seeing in wastewater and in case counts,” Juni said.
“It remains to be seen how much of what we’re seeing in wastewater will eventually translate also into hospital occupancy,” he added.
Juni said since only 10 per cent of all infections are reported through testing, the actual case count in the province is likely 10 times higher.
“These 2,000 cases are more like 20,000 cases. In fact, when we use wastewater directly to triangulate case counts, we estimate that we’re at between 20 and 25,000 cases of infections daily,” he said.
It’s a similar story in Alberta, where an upward trend started in early March, according to wastewater samples collected, processed and reported by teams at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
This data covers more than 80 per cent of Alberta’s population.
Hrudey, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, said recent data does suggest that cases are climbing back up in the province, but not dramatically so as of yet.
All of Calgary and the surrounding area.
Data Source: Centre for Health Informatics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Saskatchewan
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are keeping a close eye on the wastewater trends of COVID-19 in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford.
As of March 16, the viral load in Saskatoon’s wastewater increased by 66.3 per cent compared to the weekly average of the previous week.
Data Source: University of Saskatoon
“This increase in viral RNA load is indicative of an increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections in Saskatoon, which — in a partially vaccinated population — may or may not be reflected by new case numbers in upcoming weeks,” the USak researchers noted.
“The trend over the last three weeks has been increasing which indicates a double wave for the Omicron wave driven by the BA.2 subvariant,” they said.
In Prince Alberta, the viral load in wastewater was up by 96.1 per cent and in North Battleford by 93.2 per cent, data showed.
British Columbia
However, in British Columbia, the increase is less prominent for now.
Of the five regions being monitored by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and Metro Vancouver, COVID-19 prevalence was only seen rising in Fraser and North Shore.
Data Source: B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
What the sewage data can tell us about COVID-19
Experts say wastewater surveillance has proven to be an effective tool for tracking COVID-19 trends and predicting future outbreaks.
“When you’re using wastewater surveillance, it’s a tool that helps you recognize very early how much community activity there is before people start becoming sick,” said Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
It is also a harbinger of increased hospitalizations and deaths, he said.
Going forward, wastewater monitoring is going to be very important, both in the short term for COVID-19 and in the longer term for other types of germs, Vinh said.
However, this type of surveillance also has its limitations as it does not indicate which individuals, households or age groups are infected, he said.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
