While wastewater data in many Ontario regions appears to show an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, Chatham-Kent’s numbers are holding steady.
Dr. David Colby, the medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent, said the number of COVID-19 cases detected through local wastewater is currently low and stable.
“It shows that the number of viral particles detected, compared to the peak, is very, very low but there is still some activity that seems to be steady,” he said.
While the current data appears positive, Colby said Chatham-Kent Public Health will continue to monitor wastewater data to watch for any signal that cases could be spiking.
“The wastewater data has been very good as far its correlation with what appears to be happening in the community,” he said. “[However], the wastewater is only municipal sewage, so it does take into account data from rural areas in Chatham-Kent, which by and large, do not go into the municipal sewage system.”
CK Public Health reported 23 new high-risk infections on Wednesday, with a seven-day average of 10 cases per day.