Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
As Canadian public health officials question China's transparency in sharing its COVID-19 surveillance information, scientists are stepping up airplane wastewater testing to try to get an early warning of potential new variants. On Friday, Vancouver International Airport will join Toronto's Pearson International Airport in taking samples of fecal matter that came from airplane toilets to identify what coronavirus variants and subvariants passengers and crew might be bringing into Canada.
The COVID-19 testing system has been overwhelmed by the Omicron variant, making it impossible to know how many people are infected. Monitoring for the novel coronavirus in wastewater could help fill the gap, says Rob Delatolla, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa and one of dozens of researchers across Canada that have been developing and using the technique. "I think it just became that much more valuable," he said.
Two of the three cities being monitored by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have shown a drop in the amount of the virus that causes COVID-19 in sewage samples taken during the latest testing period. On Monday, the Global Institute for Water Security's report show a decrease of 79 per cent in viral RNA in North Battleford's wastewater when compared to the previous reporting period. The amount of delta variant found in the wastewater has also decreased by 47 per cent from the previous reporting period.
