COVID-19: Sewage analysis shows an increase in cases

According to an expert from the National Institutes of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), wastewater analysis from four major cities reveals an increase in cases.

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“We have noticed a definite change over the last few weeks, with an increase in May, however, which is declining,” said Dr. Caroline Hought, a medical expert in environmental health direction from INSPQ.

“We’ll see in the next few days how this develops,” she added.

Since February 24, the Ministry of Health and Social Services has instructed INSPQ to develop a monitoring program for the detection of COVID-19 in wastewater.

“It simply came to our notice then. As the availability of clinical trials dwindles, this test will provide us with information about people who may not be affected by the symptom, who may not be tested or who are not interested, ”explained Dr. Hut.

Immunity levels, variations, or vaccination results make it difficult to compare with other periods of the epidemic, but experts say the virus continues to spread.

Eliminating hygiene measures such as wearing masks is tantamount to an increased increase in results.

INSPQ will continue these analyzes until the end of March 2023. Currently, only sewage from Laval, Montreal, Quebec and Gatino is being analyzed, but experts say 15 cities need to be monitored by this fall.

Data is available every week on the INSPQ website.

“We hope it will bring us and the benefit of the moment, this is a pre-verified identification that is currently being verified. We are developing this technology in hopes of using it for other viruses and other bacteria,” said Dr.