The Northwestern Health Unit is scaling back COVID reporting.
Updates will come each Wednesday and not three days a week as originally scheduled.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kit Young Hoon says the decline in new cases and limits on PCR testing are making it difficult to assess short-term risk.
“Those numbers have lots of weaknesses in it. In fact it’s the hospitalization numbers that are most useful. It is the trends, so whether it is increasing or decreasing, that it gives us a sense of what the impacts may potentially be on the community.”
Dr. Young Hoon says the change “Will better show trends rather than short-term fluctuations that we’re seeing due to small numbers. We hope this shift will provide more information to the residents of Northwestern Ontario.”
She notes the positivity rate for the region is beginning to fall in line with the provincial average.
If the risk changes, Dr. Young Hoon says the public will be informed immediately.
