COVID-19 in Alberta’s wastewater will soon be coming to an end.Since last year, researchers from Alberta Health Services and Alberta Precision Laboratories have been studying samples taken from wastewater treatment plants around the province for the presence of COVID-19.Dr.
Xiaoli Pang, a molecular biologist who works with AHS and APL and is the principal investigator of the study, said COVID-19 infected patients shed the virus in their stool, even if they are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.In the study, wastewater samples are being taken three times a week from facilities in Medicine Hat, Fort Saskatchewan, Canmore, Banff, Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, High River, Grande Prairie and Red Deer.The samples are shipped weekly to the research.