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A thread on the Covid-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel's first report - full report here: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/medical-devices/testing-screening-advisory-panel/reports-summaries/priority-strategies.html
The panel's members covered a wide variety of disciplines. @SuePaish and I had the privilege of serving as co-chairs, and we were ably assisted by @GovCanHealth staff and a ‘shadow panel’ of younger folks. We also consulted as widely as we could. https://twitter.com/SaraRotenberg/status/1350133692577017856?s=20
Testing and screening will be important for many more months, and will continue to be a key component of “find, test, trace, isolate and support.” The goal is still to find as many cases as possible and break as many chains of transmission as possible.
In our first report, we identified 4 priority areas for immediate action:
1.Optimizing diagnostic capacity
2.Deploying rapid tests for screening
3.Equity in testing and screening
4.Communications https://twitter.com/jenzelmer/status/1350170513067433985?s=20
1.Optimizing diagnostic capacity
2.Deploying rapid tests for screening
3.Equity in testing and screening
4.Communications https://twitter.com/jenzelmer/status/1350170513067433985?s=20
1. Lab-based PCR tests are highly specific and have the best sensitivity of all the tests. However, capacity is constrained in many parts of Canada. The expert panel therefore recommends creating higher- and lower-priority streams for both specimen collection and test processing.
The panel also recommends implementing ‘task shifting’ (e.g., having pharmacists, paramedics and others collect specimens) to increase testing capacity and processing capacity. Lots of good examples of how this is already being done in various parts of Canada in the report.
2. Deploying rapid tests for screening. These tests aren’t as sensitive as lab-based PCR tests but they are much faster. Speed matters. We want to find infections, start isolation, and trace and quarantine contacts as fast as possible to break chains of transmission.
So, the panel recommends deploying rapid tests widely to screen individuals in schools and workplaces, and congregate living settings too.
3. Covid-19 has amplified pre-existing inequities in our society. Not surprisingly, the approach to testing and screening has also been inequitable. We need to remedy this.
The panel particularly benefited from the membership of @kwame_mckenzie in thinking about how to do this.
The panel particularly benefited from the membership of @kwame_mckenzie in thinking about how to do this.
There is a need to:
-increase lab-based PCR testing capacity in remote areas
-deploy rapid testing to fill gaps (but not a substitute for lab-based PCR)
-improve access to testing and screening in under-served and higher-risk communities
-reduce barriers to testing for workers
-increase lab-based PCR testing capacity in remote areas
-deploy rapid testing to fill gaps (but not a substitute for lab-based PCR)
-improve access to testing and screening in under-served and higher-risk communities
-reduce barriers to testing for workers
4. Communicating clearly is so important, particularly in the current age of social media disinformation. The expert panel recommended communicating clearly, in multiple languages, across multiple platforms and using existing community networks and recognized spokespeople.
That's a very short summary of the first report!
With the support of @PattyHajdu and @GovCanHealth the expert panel is pleased to keep at it, and offer its advice in other areas as desired - e.g., schools, workplaces, new variants/strains, etc.
With the support of @PattyHajdu and @GovCanHealth the expert panel is pleased to keep at it, and offer its advice in other areas as desired - e.g., schools, workplaces, new variants/strains, etc.
