OMICRON TSUNAMI CONFINES PCR TESTING TO THOSE AT HIGH RISK.. DEENA HINSHAW

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: A tidal wave of Omicron COVID-19 infections — that’s likely 10 times higher than the known case numbers — has pushed the province to limit PCR testing to high-risk individuals and settings, Alberta’s top doctor said Monday.

The highly-infectious variant has overwhelmed the province’s normal testing ability and those who don’t fall under the more vulnerable categories should cancel their tests if already booked, said Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Among those still eligible for PCR tests are acute-care or continuing-care workers, hospital patients with symptoms, those not immunized who are 55 years of age or older, or people with chronic health conditions.

The changes come as those PCR tests logged 17,577 new COVID-19 infections with a positivity rate of 39 per cent from Jan. 7-9 — a number Hinshaw said likely captures only a tenth of the new cases, given the pressures on testing and often mild symptoms.



If true, instead of the current recorded 57,332 active cases, the actual number would be more than 570,000 infections, or about 13 per cent of Alberta’s population.



This comes at a time when the province is asking Albertans to rely more on at-home rapid antigen tests, which many people are still having difficulty securing.