The COVID-19 viral load in both Prince Albert and North Battleford has gone down in the latest report from USask’s Global Institute for Water Security, but it has increased in Saskatoon by 44 per cent for the week leading up to May 4th. That’s after two successive weeks of declines, and the report from the Global Institute says it’s the second largest amount ever observed in the city, so it’s too early to declare the sixth wave has passed its peak. To project a trend there needs to be at least three weeks in the same direction.

The increase in viral load is indicative of an increase in COVID infections in Saskatoon, but with a partially vaccinated population, it may or may not be reflected by new case numbers in the coming weeks. One per cent of the viral load is Omicron, while almost 97 per cent is its BA-2 subvariant and the rest is other lineages.

The wastewater in Prince Albert has decreased by just over 58 per cent for the week leading up to May 2nd. It’s the first decline after two successive increases. The Institute says the viral load is still large. Just over 92 per cent is the Omicron subvariant. One per cent is Omicron and almost 8 per cent are other lineages which could be new variants of Omicron.

In North Battleford, the viral load has gone down by just over 24 per cent in the week leading up to April 29th, but it’s still the third largest load ever measured in that city. The viral load in the wastewater is over 82 per cent Omicron BA-2, one per cent Omicron and almost 18 per cent other lineages, which could be new subvariants of Omicron.