Sudbury school boards don't need health unit approval to start COVID-19 asymptomatic testing, PHSD says

Sudbury's medical officer of health says schools don't need approval from public health before implementing asymptomatic COVID-19 testing.

But Dr. Penny Sutcliffe says she hopes there will be discussion before a decision is made.

The Ministry of Education announced last week that asymptomatic COVID-19 tests would be made available for all schools where in-person learning has resumed.

Sutcliffe says Public Health Sudbury and Districts will work in partnership with the four local school boards, but notes that public health may not be the lead on this.

"In some instances it might be that the school board is dealing more directly with the Ministry of Education and public health is more in the background," she said.

"Certainly responding to any questions or concerns and certainly any cases that are found. So we're part of a whole team, and I think the role of public health in that team really does depend on the circumstances and the reasons for doing the testing."

Sutcliffe says the asymptomatic COVID-19 tests available for schools will be both nasal swabs and rapid tests, noting the tests will be useful when a school has high case counts.

"We do have to make sure that we're making good decisions about how to use those limited [public health] resources and prioritize," she said.

"We certainly wouldn't be in the way of a school making this decision if they wanted to do it, even if it wasn't a high-priority for public health. And we would have to be clear on what resources we would have to support that in the context of the other demands."

Three local Catholic schools had asymptomatic COVID-19 testing done recently when they were experiencing outbreaks, to help identify any other cases.

Tracking the COVID-19 variants

Meanwhile, Sutcliffe says she's concerned about COVID-19 variants, after a couple of cases popped up in the region.

"I am concerned about these variants of concern because of how transmissible, how easily they spread from one person to another," she said.

"So these individuals cases that we're aware of or that we're waiting for confirmation, not concerning. But we have seen how quickly this virus can be spread in communities, and I think as certainly people are saying, it's a matter of time. So not if, but when. So it's extremely important that we really pay attention to those public health measures."

Sutcliffe says there is worry that the variants may cause a third wave.

"Nobody wants to hear about that. Nobody wants that to happen. But the way we can prevent it is by taking those measures that we have been working on since last March."

There are reports that the variants are between 50 and 70 per cent transmissible.

"We don't know definitively. But the truth is it is more transmissible, which means we will get more cases. And having more cases, more people infected means that we have more people who are seriously ill and more people who need our health care system and tragically, more people who will die," she said.

"It is very, very worrisome."

As the COVID-19 vaccine continues to be administered in the area's long-term care homes and seniors' homes, Sutcliffe says they're keeping a close eye on their effectiveness against the variants.

"We understand that is the case for the so-called UK variant. But certainly more work needs to be done on that."

About 1,000 vaccines have been administered in the Public Health Sudbury and District area.