Late arriving seventh wave of COVID detected in Windsor-Essex wastewater
Another wave of COVID-19 has been detected in local wastewater more than a month after the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table declared the seventh wave of the pandemic in the province.
“We've been seeing elevated levels for the past couple of weeks,” said Mike McKay, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER). “It's highly transmissible and we're seeing a lot of breakthrough infections.”
McKay said wastewater levels revealed that another version of the Omicron strain is present after recent testing. He said it indicated people who've been vaccinated or even boosted once or twice are being infected or re-infected.
This while local hospitals report an increase in COVID admissions and public health units record an uptick in related deaths.
“It means we have to remain vigilant,” McKay explained. “A lot of the mitigation measures that were introduced early the pandemic are still useful. I mean, the big thing I think is that people ensure that they're up to date on their shots and boosters.”
McKay echoed what he said in previous interviews following the sixth wave that most COVID waves in southwestern Ontario arrive later than other locations in the province.
“London has been reporting some very high levels of COVID and wastewater recently and that’s skewing the data for our entire region,” McKay said. “Were elevated but we're not seeing the high levels of virus in wastewater that we're seeing in London.”
McKay told CTV News wastewater testing efforts now involve monitoring for the monkeypox virus and polio in Michigan.
He said GLIER is working with the City of Detroit while continuing to monitor wastewater in southwestern Ontario.
“The last data I've seen from the province from August 8, one confirmed case of monkeypox in Windsor-Essex,” McKay said. “Seventy-five per cent of the cases of the province are in the GTA.”
“Across the river in Detroit, there are about two-thirds of the entire cases of Michigan. So right now there are about 80 cases in Michigan. Two-thirds of those are in the Metro Detroit area. A lot of concern from public health right now about summer festivals and people congregating and maybe they're going to be seeing an upswing in the number of cases of monkeypox. So they're very interested in us starting to monitor wastewater for Detroit for monkeypox, and we'll be doing it for our other municipalities that we're working within the region."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.