However, Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping said in the weekly COVID-19 press conference on Wednesday that the county would follow a “wait-and-see” approach to implementing public health measures that have not already entered into force. . “We ask the Alberts to assess their own risk,” he said, “to understand their level of comfort and then to guide accordingly, as well as to go for a quick test … If you have not done all the reminders your downloads, qualify, do it “. As Alberts consider their individual risk for COVID-19, they remain a significant population considered immunosuppressed and at higher risk of hospitalization and death if infected with COVID-19. Alberta Health also publishes COVID-19 numbers only on a weekly basis now, so how do you navigate the indicators and determine your risk?

The indicators

There are different indicators that have different degrees of usefulness. COVID-19 started with a growing number of cases that eventually exceeded the capacity of many jurisdictions to try it. With the arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variant and the limitation of Alberta Health PCR testing to individuals in high-risk environments such as health and long-term care, we have returned to counting in official numbers. The Y axis indicates the number of SARS-CoV2 RNA particles detected per milliliter of wastewater. This graph should only be interpreted as a measure of progress against itself and is not used for comparison with other cities or measurement locations. (Rob Easton / CBC) The Y axis indicates the number of SARS-CoV2 RNA particles detected in each sample. The numbers show the first number multiplied by 10 by the power of the small number above. For example, 2.1 x 1015 written entirely is 2,100,000,000,000,000 or 2.1 trillion RNA particles detected. (Rob Easton / CBC)
Sewage data fill gaps, giving us a panoramic view of the virus in 20 different communities in Alberta. Some of these communities, such as Calgary or Edmonton, are even distributed by area. This is the best indicator for individuals to measure whether COVID-19 is increasing or decreasing in their community, according to Dr. Craig Jenne, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary. It may also give a warning to those who may want to reconsider prevention approaches as the trend increases, he says, but does not provide all the details of the risk. “Although wastewater is a very useful tool and we can obtain data at the community or city level, it does not provide us with detailed information about which, for example, age groups are most exposed to viral transmission, which activities or events are most at risk. “We only have a 30,000-foot picture of how many viruses there are in a given community,” Jenne said. The key to reading sewage data is looking at the trend line. If there are three measurements in a row with increasing or decreasing numbers, it can be said that COVID-19 levels in the community are moving in one direction or another, according to Dr. Michael Parkins, one of the leaders in the sewage project in Calgary. It is also a top indicator and has been preceded by waves of people with COVID symptoms and external signs of the disease for up to six days, added Parkins, who is also an associate professor at Cumming University School of Medicine in Calgary and head of the department. Infectious Diseases for the Alberta Health Services. In addition to wastewater, Alberta Health continues to provide data in its interactive data application on the COVID-19 portal, which provides more detailed information on risk factors such as age, comorbidities and the like. The test positive rates are another relevant indicator that can show how the province as a whole is doing. CBC News in Calgary has previously republished the Alberta-Alberta test-positive rate in our daily “Need to know” archive and will continue to do so less frequently as data is only published on a weekly basis. Nursing and ICU numbers do not suffer from the limited problem of examinations, because hospitals are in the high priority group for examinations. However, hospital numbers also include people with COVID-19 as well as those who are there for COVID-19. If you are someone who is considered to be at risk of a negative outcome, hospital admissions are not the best indicator to look for because when the treatment is over, it is already too late, says Jenne. “It is likely that the virus is already at high levels in the community for several weeks before these treatments change. Likewise, ICU admissions are delayed even further,” says Jenne.

Who is at risk?

The number of people considered immunosuppressed is remarkably high, according to Dr. Dan Gregson, an infection specialist, microbiologist and associate professor at Cumming Medical School and the University of Calgary, but many fall into many broad categories with varying degrees of risk. “There is a gradation of what people get for their treatment. And even with transplant patients, usually earlier, you are in a lot of immunosuppression and it decreases over time,” he says. Gregson says those who have been vaccinated, boosted and have none of the other risk factors are more likely to develop a COVID-19 infection as a bad cold. Those who have risk factors, could be very different. Alberta Health recently distributed the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to those who are largely immunocompromised. The following are the current criteria for fourth installments in the province:

Recipients of treatment with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) -T-cells Moderate to severe primary immunodeficiency (for example, DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome) Advanced HIV infection without treatment or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Immunosuppressive therapies (for example, anti-B cell therapies, systemic high-dose corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antitumor metabolites or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, and other biological agents) Transplant recipients, including solid organ transplants and hematopoietic stem cells Chronic kidney disease undergoing regular dialysis Receiving active cancer treatment (chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies), excluding those receiving only hormone therapy, radiation therapy or surgery Taking certain medicines for autoimmune diseases, such as rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab and methotrexate

Assessing your own risk is also a matter of who you are in contact with. If you are in regular contact with someone who is immunosuppressed, both Jenne and Gregson say you will want to take extra precautions.

Precautions

Wearing a mask, physical distance, avoiding large crowds and confined spaces, deciding not to attend events: These are all measures that many have taken since the beginning of the pandemic and continue to be effective, but Gregson says there is a measure that helps the most. “The first recommendation I would have is to update your COVID vaccinations. So for most of us who had the second dose, take the third dose and for people with immunosuppression, take the fourth dose,” he said. . People with immunosuppression and their contacts could also consider rapid examinations as a regular practice before meetings as another way of reducing transmission. Gregson says that as the number of sewers increases, people will want to consider coverage according to their comfort levels, if not for yourself, then for those who are in the higher risk category but need to get out. It is also advisable to look at the behavior of the people around you in public. If the staff in a cafe is wearing a mask, it makes sense to also wear a mask because everyone there may be wearing a mask for some reason. “Think about the other people in the room and whether you are interested in wearing a mask,” he says.