Skip to content

'Without good contact tracing, there will be more unchecked spread of the virus,' says doctor

Simcoe-Muskoka health unit among small number not meeting threshold of tracing 90% or more of contacts within 24 hours
contact-tracing

Pulling back on contact-tracing efforts limits a vital aspect of trying to contain the spread of the virulent COVID-19 virus, say specialists.

But the number of high-risk contacts local officials have been able to reach within a day has dropped below 80 per cent, says Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

“Which is lower than it’s been since August,” Gardner said Tuesday. “This is something I identified a week ago, a reason why we’re taking a change in our approach to contact management. We’re challenged with the number of contacts to be able to follow up with them all in a timely way.”

He did indicate that local efforts have been boosted, however. Public Health Ontario has provided staff to help trace about 20 per cent of people in Simcoe-Muskoka who may have been in contact with someone who was tested positive for COVID-19.

Gardner says the local health unit is also continuing to hire more staff. But it remains a challenge, given the growth in the number of cases, which crested 50 in Simcoe County alone on Tuesday. 

Provincial figures indicate the local health unit is only one of four in Ontario, along with Toronto and Ottawa, not meeting the higher threshold of tracing 90 per cent or more of contacts within 24 hours. Of the province's 34 health units, 25 are reaching 100 per cent of their new cases within 24 hours.

It is unclear whether a provincial government announcement of more contact tracers will further boost local efforts. In a news release issued Wednesday, the provincial health ministry indicated 100 contact tracers have been hired and another 500 are expected to be on the job by mid-November.

Challenges to local tracing efforts means more reliance on others to communicate the necessary information to contacts. So for the past week, some people who test positive for the virus during this prolonged pandemic are being asked to reach directly with anyone they’ve had contact with, said Gardner. Simcoe-Muskoka public health officials are now relying upon the schools, for instance, to reach out to the student body and staff when an infection is identified.

“Without good contact tracing, there will be more unchecked spread of the virus,” said Dr. Tara Kiran, a family doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Toronto. “One person with COVID often can have 20 to 30 contacts. Some of those contacts will have gotten COVID from them and not know it. Some may have no symptoms, others may have mild symptoms.

"Without knowing they have COVID, they could be spreading it to other people," she added.

And without the ability to reach contacts directly, there's a risk that the necessary information isn’t communicated to all who could benefit from it, possibly leaving the door open to further spread of COVID-19.

Kiran is hopeful that Simcoe-Muskoka and the other areas with reduced contact-tracing capacity will be able to return to 100 per cent efforts with additional resources.

“Ultimately, public health units need to have the funds to hire the number of contact tracers they need," she said. "I’d love to see them have special flexibility in their budgets this year to hire staff to support tracing and other COVID public health measures."

But Dionne Aleman, an industrial engineering professor at the University of Toronto and an expert in contact tracing, was critical of the provincial government.

“This is a failing of our provincial leadership and funding priorities, not a failing of our public health units,” she said, adding many were left under-staffed following “deep cuts” last year.

The inability to do full contract tracing limits the effectiveness of other efforts to contain the spread, such as targeted business restrictions and shutdowns, Aleman added. Without the complete information, it’s not always possible to determine which environments are contributing most to the spread.

Gardner says the Simcoe-Muskoka health unit could use more resources, because it is now falling short on the other services it provides, given the dire attention paid to the pandemic at the moment.

“I think that would be a common challenge among all health units,” he said.

And given current circumstances, Gardner wasn’t optimistic that local health unit officials could soon get back to doing all the contact tracing necessary themselves.

In its Wednesday news release, the provincial government indicated there are more than 2,750 case and contact management staff active across all public health units. Factor in the 600 new recruits and another 600 from Statistics Canada and the number nearly reaches 4,000. That’s up from about 1,500 contact tracers being used in the spring.


Reader Feedback

About the Author: Marg. Bruineman, Local Journalism Initiative

Marg. Buineman is an award-winning journalist covering justice issues and human interest stories for BarrieToday.
Read more