September 23, 2022

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Marathon Family Health Team (MFHT) and North of Superior Healthcare Group (NOSH) have been committed to keeping residents of our catchment area informed about the COVID-19 risk in our communities. 

Due to changes in provincial COVID-19 data reporting, testing and overall pandemic response, your healthcare team can no longer easily provide quality information relating to the number of active COVID-19 cases in our communities. Therefore, MFHT and NOSH will no longer be publishing regular COVID-19 dashboard updates. 

Although we may not have access to detailed local COVID-19 data, we can confirm that COVID-19 is still present in our communities. The recent outbreak at Wilson Memorial General Hospital, where 10 individuals (both inpatients and employees) were infected with COVID-19 and 1 person died as a result, is an example of how quickly the virus can circulate and how serious this infection can be for high risk members of our communities.

Now that fall and transmissible illness season is upon us, individuals are encouraged to consider their personal risk level, and the risks they pose to those around them, as they head indoors and may choose to participate in activities that can increase the spread of viruses such as COVID-19 and influenza. They are also encouraged to stay home when sick, except to seek testing or medical care if required. It is recommended to stay home until symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours if they had nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea) and no fever is present.

Moving forward, your healthcare team will inform you about the risk of transmissible illnesses in our communities as best we can. 

Past COVID-19 case reporting can be found in the table below.

January 7, 2022

Now that COVID-19 testing and contract tracing recommendations have changed, only the most vulnerable individuals and individuals associated with highest risk settings are eligible for PCR testing (nasal swabs). For more information on who is eligible for a COVID-19 PCR test, click here.

Since COVID-19 testing can no longer be offered to everyone, the Marathon Family Health Team and North of Superior Healthcare Group will be unable to accurately track or report COVID-19 cases in our communities. Therefore, our local COVID-19 dashboard reporting will look different moving forward (see below).

We will continue to report new positive cases that are identified through the COVID-19 Assessment Centre periodically, but it should be noted that the number of cases reported will significantly underestimate the true number of people with COVID-19 in our communities. For this reason, reported case numbers should only be used as a signal that COVID-19 (Omicron variant) is in our communities.

To help us more accurately track the number of new positive cases of COVID-19 in our communities, we ask that individuals who test positive on a rapid antigen test (RAT) or any other rapid testing mechanism contact the Assessment Centre by emailing covid@mfht.org. Please write “Positive RAT” in the subject line and include your name and community in the email. Providing us with this information will allow us to report positive cases confirmed by PCR tests and RATs locally.