La Loche hospital (La Loche History/website)

By Nicole Reis

LA LOCHE COVID-19 UPDATE

No new COVID-19 cases in La Loche, contact tracing continues

Apr 28, 2020 | 8:06 PM

On a day when no new cases were reported, community leaders and Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) officials provided an update on the COVID-19 outbreak in the northern village of La Loche and its neighbouring community of Clearwater River Dene Nation.

However, there was a warning that more cases were likely.

Dr. Rim Zayed, Medical Health Officer of the SHA’s Northern Population Health Unit, told the community via local radio there was currently a combined total of 35 cases of COVID-19 in La Loche and Clearwater River Dene First Nation.

The community has three recoveries for a total of 32 active cases. The doctor commended the community for its efforts and emphasized the importance of physical distancing. 10 per cent of the 2,600 population has been tested.

“If your household is very crowded and it is a challenging environment to self-isolate, or provide cleaning requirement of disinfectant, please reach out to the community,” she said. ”I really commend the community leadership, they are trying also to help us and we are working together. Reach out to the community as this is an important situation. Overcrowding in houses is not helping with isolation and I know there are more cases and we are anticipating that.”

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The doctor said self-isolation does not have to be an order but something the community can do to delay transmission of the virus.

Rapid testing machine being prepared

An SHA representative, introduced as Trevor on the local radio program, said the GenXpert testing machine has arrived at the lab facility, where staff are currently being trained and it which should be up and running by the end of day tomorrow.

“Additionally to support La Loche, we have large scale plans going on to bring up staff but currently we have two of our public health nurses who have really stepped up and are coming to La Loche on a daily basis until end of week so we can continue to do more testing and mobile testing,” he said.

The community is also implementing additional security for safety during mobile testing so people know what to do as they arrive for testing. Emergency Services remain open if people need help.

“If you do have an emergency and need help that is not COVID-19 related, feel free to give the facility a call or ask your provider about that, we’re here for you and we’re here to help.”

Currently tests are being sent to Meadow Lake where a GenXpert machine is performing rapid testing results. The turnaround time is one-hour.

“When we have the cartridges available, [as] there is provincial limitations to those cartridges, but we have worked in the northwest to secure some for La Loche and the area. When we’re doing testing, someone would be able to get their results back as soon as that sample hits the GenXpert, we can do same day testing for urgent cases where we need results that day,” he said.

Chief Teddy Clark asked Dr. Zayed a question whether GenXpert could pick up results from an asymptomatic individual. She said if a person does not have symptoms, it is unlikely to get a positive result.

“If a person does not have symptoms, it is unlikely they can get a positive result. That’s why if we test a person for the first time, at least we have an idea if they are negative,” she said. “But at the same time, if we need to monitor the person and see if they show minor symptoms, we can test them again. But at least this testing will give us a baseline. A person who is negative is less likely to spread the virus.”

The doctor added the community has conducted approximately 260 tests in total so far.

“We are now going into expanded strategy for testing and prioritization so we we have more people to get tested,” she said.

Once a person is tested, the individual must self-isolate for 14 days even if they are negative as a precaution if they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive.

The importance of early detection

Some members in the community we’re concerned by continuous calls by the SHA as parents are testing negative and the doctor advised those calls are to check on the vulnerable population.

Dr. Zayed said people who are negative who have close contact with positive person may not show infection now but it could show up later.

“We are really caring about elder people and also their vulnerability. That’s why we are checking on people who are in isolation everyday or, if we can, every other day. This is important we keep checking on early symptoms because the test may be negative but sometimes with early symptoms, we need to test again and we need to make sure they are properly isolated. This is part of our contact tracing, it’s not that we detect positive cases only, we make sure we slow the transmission in the community, that’s why we continue to call and monitor.”

Mayor Robert St. Pierre said the case numbers are increasing and the community needs to continue to practice physical distancing.

“It’s reality and we need to all do our part, each and every one of us. Thank you to the community for adhering to the curfew and checkpoints,” he said, noting the community is anxious and has a lot of questions.

Anyone showing symptoms should call the HealthLine at 811 and for any non-medical COVID-19 information they can call 1-855-559-5502.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722