WECHU to make adjustments to COVID-19 case reporting
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is making changes to its COVID-19 local data reporting to better align with changes to testing eligibility in Ontario.
Starting Monday, the health unit will focus on high-risk cases, hospitalizations and wastewater surveillance data on its local data webpage due to changes in publically funded PCR testing that went into effect on Dec. 31.
Publically funded PCR testing is now limited to symptomatic high-risk individuals and those who work in high-risk settings. As such, WECHU says positive cases confirmed by PCR testing “is an underestimate of the true number of individuals with COVID-19 in the community.”
To address this, the WECHU is implementing the following changes to its reporting:
- Reporting of cases limited to 'high-risk cases', and only active and new cases.
- Reporting of confirmed and suspect COVID-19 hospitalizations.
- Reporting of local wastewater surveillance data.
- Reporting of new outbreaks is limited to high-risk settings such as long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and congregate living settings.
- Inclusion of historical outbreaks across all settings beginning from September 1, 2020. Outbreaks prior to September 1, 2020 will be added after a thorough review.
- Differentiating between data from before and after the change in testing eligibility on all existing graphs for testing and cases over time, as the time periods are not comparable.
- Discontinued reporting any Variants of Concern (as Omicron is the dominant variant, and only a small number of PCR tests will be screened for Omicron).
- Discontinued reporting cases by age, source of acquisition, geography, and status of vaccinations, as high-risk cases only represent a segment of the population.
- Discontinued reporting of daily effective reproduction number and case doubling-time related to COVID-19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Auston Matthews returns for Game 7, but Leafs minus injured goaltender Joseph Woll
Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews returned to the lineup for Game 7 against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.