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Corbella: Alberta's disease detectives save countless lives

Officially they’re called contact tracers — but in short they are nothing less than sickness sleuths, pandemic police or, more recently, COVID cops.

Alberta’s disease detectives — all of them either nurses, doctors or medical students who are volunteering their time during this pandemic — have contacted each and every one of the 2,908 Albertans who have, to date, tested positive for COVID-19. Once an infected person is contacted, these medical gumshoes do some scientific scouting that helps stop the spread of a communicable disease as soon as possible.

 

Dr. David Strong says contact tracing is nothing new. It goes on all the time to prevent the spread of all sorts of diseases like measles, tuberculosis, Hepatitis A, HIV/AIDS and many other communicable illnesses.

Under normal circumstances Alberta has 75 full-time disease detectives. Those numbers have ballooned by almost 500 per cent to 440 people to help wrestle this mysterious super villain — COVID-19 — into submission.

Strong, the medical health officer for the province’s communicable disease program for Alberta Health Services, says 6,600 contact tracing investigations have been performed and continue every day, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.

He and his team have commandeered all sorts of space in both Calgary and Edmonton in AHS buildings emptied out because of social distancing parameters, to track down people who test positive for the novel coronavirus and then all of their contacts.

In this video capture image, Provincial CD Contact Tracing team members are tasked with contacting every Albertan who tests positive for COVID-19 with the goal of tracing people who have been in contact with them.

As soon as a positive test result is determined in the provincial lab, it’s emailed to the contact tracing office.

A team member then calls the person who tested positive and first tries to establish how sick they are and whether they need any additional medical care. Then, they attempt to determine where they might have been exposed, as well as who was exposed to them while they were infectious. With that information, they then reach out to the named contacts.

If they are health care workers or work in and around vulnerable people — like in a long-term care facility, where so many of the coronavirus deaths have occurred in Alberta and all across Canada — they are tested whether they are symptomatic or not.

“We try to establish if the contacts are sick and if they are sick, we get them tested and if that comes back positive we reinitiate that process of connecting with all of their contacts,” explains Strong.

Dr. Richelle Schindler, 34, who will be graduating with a specialty in public health this summer, has been working in Calgary’s contact tracing office since March 5 — when Alberta’s first COVID-19 case was discovered.

“I have definitely used everything I have been trained in,” said Schindler, who has an undergraduate degree in biological sciences, a Masters degree in physiology, a medical degree from the University of Calgary in July 2015 and a five-year medical residency in public health, which she will finish in August.

Dr. Richelle Schindler, one of the medical residents who is tracking down people who came into contact with people who have tested positive with COVID-19.

Initially Schindler says she had planned to be a cardiologist but realized she was more excited and passionate about preventing illness than treating it.

“All the complex medicine and all the public health training, it’s all accumulated into this ability to rapidly assess the literature and emerging evidence, identify what’s important, translate it into action and you know, save the province,” she says with a laugh.

“We’re definitely disease detectives in this work, where we’re trying to identify not only who the case has infected but where they might have gotten it, (and) link all these things together, to get the bigger picture of what’s happening,” she said.

On Monday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, announced that one of the four Albertans who had died of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours was a worker at the Cargill meat-packing plant, located about 55 kilometres south of Calgary. Hinshaw pointed out that 484 total positive cases of COVID-19 are linked to the Cargill plant outbreak — 360 of whom are workers from the plant.

That information all stems from the contact tracers.

Besides contact tracing, it’s public health doctors who oversee restaurant inspections, ensure our water supply remains safe and clean, conduct vaccination programs, hold prenatal classes and visit new parents following a birth.

“We’re the reason why you don’t see a massive outbreak in HIV, for example, because we’re identifying through contact tracing folks who have had an HIV diagnosis. Controlling tuberculosis, which was a huge issue a couple of decades ago is now a non-issue in Alberta because of this contact tracing work,” said Schindler.

Strong notes that contact tracing saves lives — no question.

“That’s the funny thing about prevention — you never know what you prevented but we do know that contact tracing is a very effective intervention, that it stops transmission for all kinds of diseases and saves countless lives,” said Strong.

He believes that contact tracing will be even more important in the months to come.

“Once the initial wave is over, this contact tracing is going to be probably more important going down the road particularly when travel starts opening up again. We’re going to be having to make sure we do case finding, make sure we test people who are coming back from places where there’s still COVID, for example, and then when we find a case, contact tracing is going to be increasingly important to prevent a second wave from actually happening,” Strong explained.

Thanks to Alberta’s super brainy disease detectives you might never know that you dodged disease and death because of their interventions, but you should know about the important role they play in keeping you healthy.

Licia Corbella is a Postmedia columnist in Calgary. lcorbella@postmedia.com

 

 

The sudden and devastating impact of COVID-19 was more than apparent on Alberta’s housing markets, which were showing signs of recovery in early March, says the latest report from the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA).

“March sales activity started the month strong, but the spread of COVID-19 and the dramatic drop in energy prices caused an abrupt downturn in the demand for housing by the middle of the month, causing provincial sales to decline by nine per cent,” says Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist for AREA and the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB). “This is an unprecedented time with a significant amount of uncertainty. It is not a surprise to see these concerns also weigh on the housing market.’

Air passengers will be required to wear non-medical masks starting April 20
The federal government is rolling out new rules requiring that all air travellers wear face masks covering their noses and mouths while in transit.

Read in CBC News: https://apple.news/ALA6QPYN2TkycGZiS6QMqsQ


Shared from Apple News

Latest updates

• Cases have been identified in all zones across the province:
  • 1,673 cases in the Calgary zone
  • 429 cases in the Edmonton zone
  • 135 cases in the North zone
  • 77 cases in the Central zone
  • 68 cases in the South zone
  • 15 cases in zones yet to be confirmed
• Of these cases, there are currently 60 people in hospital, 13 of whom have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU).
• 400 cases are suspected of being community acquired.
• A total of 50 Albertans have died from COVID-19 to date: 34 in the Calgary zone, eight in the Edmonton zone, seven in the North zone, and one in the Central zone.
• To date, 270 cases have been confirmed at continuing care facilities, and 32 residents at these facilities have died.
• There have been 89,144 people tested for COVID-19 and a total of 92,805 tests performed by the lab. In the last 24 hours, 3,831 people have been tested.
• Effective immediately, Alberta Health Services will assume administration of Manoir du Lac in McLennan. Learn more here.
• The 310 call centre is assuming standard hours of operation, from 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and will not be open this weekend.

Expanded testing

• Alberta Health continues to closely monitor outbreak situations, and is working with employers and Alberta Health Services to expand testing to asymptomatic residents and staff in continuing care facilities and outbreak sites in the coming days. All workers from all companies at outbreak sites will be offered this opportunity.
• Additionally, Alberta’s testing capacity is rapidly expanding and anyone with symptoms anywhere in the province can now be tested.
• Those with symptoms of COVID-19, including cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, or shortness of breath, should complete an online COVID-19 self-assessment. After completing the form, there is no need to call 811.
• Alberta’s testing capacity is currently approximately 7,000 samples per day, and the laboratory network is working to increase this capacity.

Camping reservations temporarily suspended

• Alberta Parks has suspended online campsite reservations and is refunding customers who have booked up to May 19.
• The decision is in line with other jurisdictions, such as Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Parks Canada, which have also suspended or delayed camping reservations.

Wastewater management

• As the regulator of municipal wastewater systems, Environment and Parks is aware of reports from municipalities that some homeowners are flushing inappropriate items down toilets, such as disinfectant wipes or paper towels.
• Albertans should avoid flushing items not intended for toilets because they can block sanitary lines, create service disruptions and cause sewer backups.

Temporary suspension of applications for emergency social services funding

• Effective April 21 at 6 p.m., the Government of Alberta will be temporarily suspending applications for emergency social services funding to charities, not-for-profits and civil society organizations to support their COVID-19 response.
• Government has received more than 600 applications for the $30-million fund. Current applications are being reviewed, and approvals for urgent requests will occur before reopening application intake.

Mental health supports

• Confidential supports are available to help with mental health concerns. The Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642 and the Addiction Help Line at 1-866-332-2322 are available between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week.
• Online resources provide advice on handling stressful situations or ways to talk with children.

Family violence prevention

• A 24-hour Family Violence Information Line is available at 310-1818 to get anonymous help in more than 170 languages.
• Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence is available at 1-866-403-8000, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Information sheets and other resources on family violence prevention are available at alberta.ca/COVID19.

Quick facts

• The most important measure Albertans can take to prevent respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, is to practise good hygiene.
  • This includes cleaning your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds, avoiding touching your face, coughing or sneezing into your elbow or sleeve, and disposing of tissues appropriately.
• For recommendations on protecting yourself and your community, visit alberta.ca/COVID19.
• All Albertans need to work together to overcome COVID-19. Albertans are asked to share acts of kindness they have experienced in their community during this difficult time by using the hashtag #AlbertaCares.

Media inquiries

• Tom McMillan 
  780-422-4905
  

  Assistant Communications Director, Health