Wastewater surveillance
Project Details
Wastewater surveillance is conducted by Alberta Precision Laboratories’ Provincial Laboratory for Public Health (ProvLab). Prior to July 2023, this program was conducted in partnership with the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Historical data from prior to July 2023 should not be compared to current values reported because historical data was not normalized to the approximate population of the catchment area, and due to a change in laboratory methodology.
The updated method enables comparisons in the quantity of virus between municipalities, which was not possible prior to July 2023. Thanks to aggregate visitor numbers provided by Parks Canada, we have refined the population normalization at these unique sites to more directly compare between these and other municipalities; however, we still urge caution when interpreting data between tourist sites and municipalities.
Population normalized quantity of SARS CoV-2 virus over time
Note: Dates are when wastewater collection took place.