News Highlights for Southwest New Brunswick: April 14, 2020

New Brunswick has expanded the criteria to qualify for testing for COVID-19. In addition to a fever over 38 degrees Celcius, a new cough or a worsening existing chronic cough, Public Health has added a runny nose, sore throat and headaches to the list of symptoms people should be on alert for. New Brunswickers with two or more of these symptoms are being asked to call 811.

To date, New Brunswick has tested approximately 1% of the total population, which has been helpful in pinpointing individual cases that need to be isolated and treated, but has been less effective in helping us understand the nature of the virus itself. Dr. Ted McDonald, a data expert from the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training at UNB who specializes in collecting and analyzing health data recognizes that expansive testing drains financial and medical resources, which makes testing the entire population of New Brunswick impossible. However, he believes experts could learn a lot about the disease by testing a random sampling of the population--in other words, testing an entire small community for COVID-19. "This could tell us about pathways of the virus and community spread," said McDonald. 

Although New Brunswick still significantly lags behind neighbouring Nova Scotia in the number of tests completed, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Russell says this is due to a lack of 811 calls, not our testing capacity. Dr. Russell also recently announced that New Brunswick has joined other provinces in establishing a procurement system for members of the public and businesses to use to donate personal protective equipment to protect frontline health workers. She said that people who want to donate items such as masks, gowns, gloves and hand sanitizer should contact Service New Brunswick on their website. Donors will be asked to submit a form detailing specific information about the donation, such as the manufacturer and certifications. Dr. Russell encourages businesses from labs, dentists offices, construction sites and tattoo parlours to people with personal stockpiles of PPEs to donate so that we can properly protect everyone in New Brunswick on the frontlines, from doctors and nurses to PSWs.