Algoma Public Health has changed the way it tracks and reports cases of COVID-19 in the region as part of a province-wide transition to a new provincial public health case and contact management system.
Testing numbers will only be reported on a weekly basis, and the numbers of pending tests in the public health region will no longer be reported going forward. Positive cases of COVID-19 will continue to be reported on a daily basis.
In an email to SooToday, Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Loo says that changes to the way Algoma Public Health tracks and reports COVID-19 cases will enable the health unit to streamline its work.
“Gathering and collating testing numbers and statistics across Algoma takes considerable time and resources,” said Dr. Loo. “The transition and updates to the way numbers of people tested are being reported are important to help streamline this work and prioritize resources toward reporting information that is most meaningful and useful.”
Algoma Public Health says that the number of pending test results can become outdated quickly.
“The number of pending tests is a number that changes considerably very quickly, and is essentially out of date shortly after it is posted because a few hundred people can get tested in any given day in Algoma. Because this is such a transient and variable number, it will no longer be reported on a daily basis,” Dr. Loo said.
While COVID-19 reporting will only be made available Monday through Friday through Algoma Public Health, weekend case counts for the region can be accessed through the province’s daily epidemiological summary.
