Dr. Tam reiterated that people who are asymptomatic do not need to be tested for COVID-19.
“We can appreciate that many people have mild symptoms,” she said. “Of all the mildly symptomatic people, you need to be able to prioritize the key people who really need to be tested.”
Examples of these people are symptomatic healthcare workers, hospitalized people and individuals in more remote communities.
“That’s where you’re going to be able to detect if you have cases not related to travel,” Dr. Tam said.
She added that Canada is also reviewing the testing strategy to determine when people who are in quarantine for 14 days will be able to go outside.
Minister of Health Patty Hajdu said that Canada is searching for the same answers to COVID-19 as the rest of the world. She added that Canada is preparing the population for a potential surge, reviewing the science and the evidence to see how we get out of this situation.
“Social distancing is the best thing we have so far but there is a ton of work happening…to figure out [strategies],” Hajdu said. “Where is the fire burning and where are the sparks going.”
When asked about what the ventilator supply is in Canada, Hajdu said we don’t have that level of precision yet.
“This is a complicated question with a complicated answer,” she said.
Dr. Tam added that the government anticipated there would be a need for more ventilators and went ahead as an anticipatory measure to order an additional 550.
Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said we have over 11 million N95 masks, more than the 7.3 million requested by the provinces.
