U of T experts speak to Globe and Mail about Canada's move to active detection of coronavirus cases
Published: February 28, 2020
As the number of cases of COVID-19 rises around the world, Canadian health officials say they will start actively looking for novel coronavirus cases.
Health experts at the 重口味SM told that means it鈥檚 time for Canada鈥檚 provinces to move their focus from testing patients who come to hospitals and clinics with symptoms to a more proactive testing regime.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically canary in the coal mine surveillance,鈥 said David Fisman, a professor and head of the epidemiology division at U of T鈥檚 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, describing an approach that would see all patients who visit certain clinics in high-risk cities like Toronto and Vancouver be tested. 鈥淵ou pick a few places you think are likely to be where the thing shows up and you focus on them.鈥
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However, such an approach would create challenges when it comes to managing laboratory workload and preserving crucial testing equipment, said Alison McGeer, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and director of the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a real challenge to try to balance all of those things,鈥 McGeer told the Globe and Mail.
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