Even with testing in high gear, New Brunswick has done fewer tests than most provinces

Even with weekly testing for COVID-19 at an all-time high, New Brunswick's testing rate remains below most other provinces only Newfoundland and Yukon are lower.

For the last week, the average number of daily tests was 2,053 and the two-week average is 1,870. On Wednesday, the most recent day available, 2,247 tests were done.

New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health continues to encourage New Brunswickers to get tested with only one symptom.

Dr. Jennifer Russell has said testing in some zones, like Miramichi, is "not where it should be."

At Monday's briefing she said, "it would be helpful if people who have symptoms get tested, because then we would feel more confident that the information that we have is reliable."

But repeated requests sent to the Department of Health since Tuesday morning to find out more about the province's testing targets have received almost no response.

Department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane only answered two of the 12 questions posed. He said the mosttests done in a single day is 2,405, but he didn't say what that day was.

He also said the last day without a positive case reported was Dec. 20.

None of the other questions wereanswered.

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Dr. Barry Pakes, a physician and assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said the goal of testing is to "find the maximum number of people who are actively infected as quickly as possible, communicate that back to them to make sure they isolate and in order to do contact tracing as soon as possible."

He said testing targets can fluctuate depending on the number of active cases in a specific area. He also saiddifferent province's have developed their own approach to testing.

Testing numbers have fluctuated in New Brunswick as outbreaks flared up and tapered off. Once an outbreak is suspected, the number of daily tests shoots up.

Last spring, for example, daily testing numbers hovered between 200 and 300 per day through most of May. In the first three weeks, only three cases were announced in the whole province.

By May 25, however, case counts began to climb amid an outbreak that would see the Campbellton zone go back to the orange phase of recovery on May 27.

At the height of the outbreak, an average of 1,700 tests were done every day. It also resulted in the highest number of tests done in a single day last year. On June 1, 2,064 tests were processed.

Then came the relatively quiet days of the summer months, which saw very few cases reported, and testing numbers returned to the 200-300 range.

Asymptomatic testing

Asymptomatic testing means testing people who aren't showing signs of COVID-19, explained Pakes.

It's often used in a specific population or setting to find cases that might otherwise be missed. For example, blanket asymptomatic testing can be used in a long-term care facility that's experienced an outbreak.

In New Brunswick, public health has offered asymptomatic testing to anyone who works in the school system.

But generally, New Brunswick's approach has been "targeted" testing, Russell said at the daily briefing Monday.

She said it's much more effective to target those with symptoms.

"The only time that asymptomatic testing is really valuable is in a targeted population where you know there's a risk. For instance, a close contact of a case who's been self-isolating."

Russell said such testing is done on Day 10 of the person's self-isolation period.

"Even if it's just one symptom, even if it seems mild or trivial, testing will help us identify how the virus is spreading, and it will enable us to get people into self-isolation and keep it from reaching everyone else.

"Time is of the essence, so please don't wait."

Testing positivity

Testing positivity is an often-confusing number that health officials keep track of, said Pakes.

"Generally, if the positivity rate is very high, then that gives you a sense that there is a lot of COVID in your population or you're not testing enough people," he said.

Testing only the sickest people will result in a high positivity rate, while testing a lot of asymptomatic people will likely do the opposite.

"For a very brief period in Ontario, our positivity rate went really, really low because people who shouldn't be getting tested were getting tested," said Pakes.

He said the positivity rate is "one of many metrics that we use to assess both what the rate in the community is and how appropriate our testing is."

A high positivity rate can mean either infection rates are high or that too few tests are being done.

Because the numbers can be confusing, Pakes said not all province's release the figure. And because each province has its own approach to testing, the figure is not a good measure of what's happening across the country, he said.

Additional testing sites

Several additional testing centres are opening in Sussex, Sackville and Perth-Andover.

Swish and gargle

In November, public health added a new COVID-19 swish and gargle test method for children.

Although the nose swab is still the recommended standard, said Russell at the time, the swishand gargle option is available at all assessment centres in New Brunswick but only for children from four to 11 years old.