A healthcare worker at a drive-thru testing facility in Etobicoke, Ont. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

By Alison Sandstrom

COVID-19

SHA increasing testing and contact tracing capacity

Nov 26, 2020 | 6:40 PM

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is ramping up testing and contact tracing capacity in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases, but says it won’t be able to keep pace unless people limit their contacts. Meanwhile a Saskatchewan epidemiologist says it’s past time for a short lockdown.

Each positive case of COVID-19 generates hours of work for contact tracers, that number increases exponentially depending on how many close contacts the case has, SHA emergency operations centre lead, Derek Miller said during a press conference on Thursday.

“If people don’t limit their contacts the numbers will continue to increase and place significant strains on our capacity,” he said.

Miller said currently each positive case generates an average of 7.7 contacts, but some cases have yielded as many as 150 contacts.

The SHA plans to increase testing to sustainably be able to process over 4,000 tests per day by late December. Measures include hiring additional staff for labs, 76 positions are currently in various stages of recruitment or training.

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Testing timeline

Most COVID-19 tests begin with a call to 811. Testing is prioritized for symptomatic individuals, who Miller explained normally receive a test within 24 hours. For asymptomatic people it can take up to 72 hours to get a test.

Once a swab is taken, it must be transported to a lab. In Northern or remote communities, Miller said transport can take over 24 hours. The provincial average is around 17 hours for transportation.

Tests from symptomatic individuals are normally processed within 24 hours once received by a lab, although that’s not always possible, said Miller.

“We are challenged to meet that turnaround time for all specimens and it depends significantly on the daily volumes that are arriving in the lab,” he said.

When a result is returned, SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said positive cases are notified within 24 hours. It can take up to 72 hours for negative cases to be notified.

Need for faster testing

Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan told paNOW he was concerned by stories of people waiting up to five days for test results in the province.

He explained studies show test results should be returned within 24 to 48 hours to limit further spread.

“It is really important that 80 per cent of the test results or so are given back in 48 hours,” he said. “We need that kind of a short turn around in order to keep virus transmission in check.”

Muhajarine sees the need for increased testing and contact tracing, but says those measures won’t be as effective as short lockdown.

“It is past time to think about a short lock down for two weeks in order to reset our capacity, given where we are in the pandemic and our increasing numbers,” he said.

“We need not just a slow down, we need to actually get people staying home through a public health order, so that we re-mobilize and re-enforce our capacity. That starts with lessening the transmission, it doesn’t start with after the fact.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom