Evan Mitsui/CBC
Date of Publication: June 1, 2020
Source: CBC
As Ontario and the nation as a whole inches closer to flattening the curve and overcoming the first wave of the coronavirus, accurate reporting and contact tracing of positive cases in the public has become more essential than ever. A failure to detect, report and trace positive cases is detrimental to progress of curbing the viral spread. This is precisely what has occurred in the William Osler Health System in Etobicoke and Brampton, with miscommunication leading to nearly 700 COVID-19 positive patients not being notified of their results. The unflagged positive cases involve people living in Toronto, Peel and York Region, and who were tested as far back as early April in the Osler’s drive-thru assessment centre at Etobicoke General Hospital, but were only notified of their positive result in the past few days. This error means hundreds of COVID-19 carriers were not instructed to strictly quarantine, contributing to wider spread of the coronavirus over the past two months, and no contact-tracing to determine who they have spread the virus to.
Read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-hospitals-missed-telling-public-health-confirmed-cases-1.5593572
Summary by: Hira Raheel