Wastewater testing in NWT communities will now detect flu outbreaks, while the territory is also starting to test anonymous blood samples for Covid-19 antibodies.
The NWT is already testing wastewater in seven communities for traces of Covid-19. The same tests will now also identify influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), another common respiratory virus.
Wastewater monitoring is generally credited with the identification of virus outbreaks about a week earlier than clinical data. Tests are held in Behchokǫ̀, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Tulita and Yellowknife.
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Meanwhile, the territory plans to test old blood samples from April this year in order to better understand how Covid-19 has spread.
Any names attached to existing blood samples will be removed, the territorial government said in a press release on Wednesday.
The samples will be tested for antibodies that follow natural infection or immunization against the virus responsible for Covid-19.
This is a type of study called a seroprevalence survey. The territory said such studies were already common in southern Canada.
“The planned NWT survey, funded by the Covid-19 Immunity Working Group, is believed to be the first to exclusively target a Northern Territory,” the GNWT said.
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“Like other regions of Canada, the NWT is no longer tracking individual cases of Covid-19. Instead, the NWT is tracking severe outcomes of Covid-19 and monitoring wastewater for changes over time to detect high or increasing levels of Covid-19 activity in a community.
“The blood sample survey will be another way to monitor and assess the impact of Covid-19 to optimize health system planning.”
Samples from April, June and September this year will be tested to assess the presence of Covid-19 in the NWT when restrictions were lifted, when the Omicron spring wave arrived and when the BA.5 variant left take charge
Another set of samples will be tested in January next year to assess the impact of the autumn and winter season and the holiday period.
Dr Kami Kandola, the NWT’s head of public health, said the actual number of Covid-19 cases in the territory was undoubtedly “much higher” than the more than 10,000 reported up to April 1.
“This information will help us understand total population immunity and prepare for the impact of future waves of Covid-19,” said Dr Kandola.
The territory repeatedly emphasized that data on identifiable individuals will not be shared during the sampling project and all sample data will be anonymized. The wider results will be made public.
Also on Wednesday, the territory reported a series of Covid-19 figures for the summer.
Between April and the end of August, the NWT said four people had died from Covid-19. Another 35 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, the territory said, and another four required intensive care.
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