Peterborough Public Health says it expects the number of cases of coronavirus to increase thanks to enhanced screening and increased testing throughout the region.
On Wednesday, medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra noted that a provincial mandate to test all residents and staff at long-term care homes is expected to drive up case numbers. She noted since her last media update a week ago, there have been 2,000 tests for COVID-19 conducted, bringing the total of tests completed to more than 3,700.
On Tuesday, the health unit reported there are now 86 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction which includes Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation. Forty-two of the cases have been resolved and there have been two deaths.
“The amount of testing that has occurred in the past week is the equivalent to how much had been done in all the weeks leading up to it,” she said. “This is really the main reason why we are seeing an increase in cases.”
Salvaterra says the goal is to enter all long-term care homes in the region to conduct tests before focusing on retirement homes over the next two weeks. The tests are being conducted in collaboration with Peterborough Regional Health Centre and Peterborough County-City Paramedics.
“We expect to have that (long-term care homes) completed by May 12,” she said.
A key change is testing individuals for a variety of symptoms beyond respiratory issues. Salvaterra noted that many of the new cases are asymptomatic and considered “mild” with no hospitalization. For example, of the 10 new cases reported on Sunday, she said six people had mild symptoms of cough, two of them only had gastrointestinal issues and another two only had a runny nose or a sore throat.
“Many of our new cases were found because of the increased criteria,” she said. “Most of them would not have been tested early on. One person said their symptoms only lasted 24 hours.”
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She said a new type of test now being used looks for three different spots on the virus as opposed to one.
“Some of these who tested positive only lit up on one of those three spots — they would not have been positive if we were using the older test,” she said.
“The increased numbers we are seeing reflect increased testing rather than an increased prevalence of the disease.”
Salvaterra says with just 2.3 per cent of cases testing positive — a decrease from three per cent last week — is reflective of doing more tests and that enhanced testing is able to pick up mild cases that were missed before.
“We had an iceberg before — we knew what we were seeing was just the tip of that iceberg and much of that iceberg was submerged underwater,” she said. “We didn’t know how big it was. We are now turning that iceberg into a pyramid in that we are now getting a better sense of what’s really going on. That’s what the enhanced testing is doing for us.”
She says that’s reflective of just seven per cent of its cases requiring hospitalization, compared to the provincial average of 11 per cent.
Health officials visited three facilities this week which each had a single case of COVID-19 after testing all staff and residents, she said. The health unit notes institutional outbreaks remain in effect at:
- Empress Gardens Retirement Residence on Charlotte St. in Peterborough
- Extendicare Lakefield on Fraser St. in Lakefield
- Peterborough Retirement Residence in Peterborough
- St. John’s Senior Centre on Water St.
- St. Joseph’s at Fleming on Brealey Drive in Peterborough
“They are all well-controlled,” said Salvaterra.
“Because these settings are high-risk for the vulnerable seniors who live there, we are testing people even without symptoms,” she said.
There was no evidence of COVID-19 following tests at Applewood Retirement Residence in Peterborough and Centennial Place long-term care in Millbrook, she noted.
SECOND DEATH
On Tuesday, the health unit reported the second death related to COVID-19. Salvaterra said the individual lived in palliative care at St. Joseph’s at Fleming since January and died on Saturday, April 18. It was determined that COVID-19 was a “contributing factor” in the person’s death. The age or sex of the person was not made available.
She noted the coroner accepted the death certificate from a physician or nurse practitioner who “judged what happened” to the patient.
STATISTICS:
- 59 per cent of people tested have been women. “It could be because many who work in health-care settings are women,” said Salvaterra.
- Travel accounts for 27 per cent of the health unit’s cases.
- Community transmission accounts for 23 per cent of cases – no link to travel or to a known case.
- The average age of a individuals testing positive is between 20 and 79.
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