As the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Peterborough county and city, Curve Lake, and Hiawatha continues to drop due to adjustments resulting from testing errors made at an Ottawa lab, Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra says the public should remain confident in current testing procedures.
“The lab (Bio-Test Laboratories) was very pro-active in identifying that there was a problem and then taking all the right steps and notifying us,” said Dr. Salvaterra during her weekly media briefing held on Wednesday (May 6).
“As with any test, there is always the possibility that the test result is not accurate. For the most part, the molecular testing being done now is very good at picking up the virus but it also has limits. We know if you test people that don’t have any symptoms, they may not have enough virus present for the test to pick it up. If the test is used for people who have symptoms, it’s a very good test.”
“We’ve also learned it’s not a great way to determine if people have cleared the virus. As of this past weekend, the Province is recommending that we not use the test to determine who has cleared the virus. The test is so sensitive it will pick up fragments of the virus that are left in the cells lining the respiratory tract.”
As a result, Dr. Salvaterra says Peterborough Public Health is now recommending that non-hospitalized people not be retested with the test. Instead, positive tests will be cleared following 14 days isolation after the onset of symptoms.
Referring to updated local COVID-19 data, Dr. Salvaterra notes that as of Wednesday (May 6), the total number of positive cases for the region is 67.
A total of 22 cases, she notes, were impacted by the testing error, with 17 of those since retested and their tests results now awaited. One of the 22 is deceased, having died of another cause but tested for COVID-19. Another four cases no longer meet positive case definition, each choosing not to be tested and instead undergo 14 days of isolation.
More than 4,800 people have now been tested in the region, with a total of 48 cases resolved. As of April 28 — the last time the data was updated &mdash 2,798 cases were confirmed negative with 829 test results pending.
Dr. Salvaterra conformed outbreaks remain active at St. Joseph’s at Fleming, Extendicare Lakefield, and Peterborough Retirement Residence with no new outbreaks reported. All patients and staff at the region’s eight long-term care homes have now been tested, with testing now being done on residents and staff of the region’s 12 retirement homes.
Identified outbreaks are all “well controlled,” says Dr. Salvaterra. Outbreaks at Empress Gardens and St. John’s Senior Centre have been declared over.
Speaking to reported cases involving two employees of the Walmart store on Chemong Road in Peterborough, Dr. Salvaterra confirms public health staff did a risk assessment associated with those cases and determined there to be no need to issue a public alert.
In other words, it’s as safe to shop there as any other store that is taking pro-active measures to prevent transmission of the virus.
“It’s safe to assume the virus is out there and it’s going to be in place where there are other people,” she says.
Gender wise, COVID-19 continues to afflict more females (55 per cent) than males (45 per cent). As for the source of COVID-19 exposure, half of those who have tested positive had contact with a known case with the remainder having contracted the virus via travel abroad (34.3 per cent) or community transmission (16.4 per cent).
Also participating in Wednesday’s media briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef and Selwyn Mayor and Peterborough Public Health chair Andy Mitchell.
