BCHU Updating COVID-19 Case Reporting Process

BRANTFORD, ON – Beginning January 17, 2022, the Brant County Health Unit (BCHU) will be updating the COVID-19 case reporting process in response to recent changes in provincial testing eligibility. These updates will mean the information displayed on BCHU’s daily COVID-19 dashboard will change.

Publicly funded PCR testing is now limited to symptomatic high-risk individuals and individuals who work in high-risk settings. This change came into effect on December 31, 2021 and as a result, positive cases confirmed by PCR testing will underestimate the true number of individuals with COVID-19 in the community.

To address this change, BCHU is modifying how COVID-19 cases will be reported in the community. Changes that will be made to the daily dashboard include: 

• Reporting of cases limited to ‘high-risk cases’ (i.e., health care workers and those living in retirement residences).
• Discontinued reporting of any Variants of Concern (as Omicron is the dominant variant, and only a small number of PCR tests will be screened for Omicron).
• Discontinued reporting cases by age, geography, and transmission as high-risk cases only represent a segment of the population.
• Differentiating between data from before and after the change in testing eligibility on all existing graphs for testing and cases over time, as the time periods are not comparable.
• Reporting of new outbreaks limited to high-risk settings, such as long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and congregate living settings (i.e., shelters, lodging homes, group homes).

The dashboard will continue to be updated at 11 a.m. from Monday to Friday, except for statutory holidays observed by BCHU. Numbers posted on Mondays will include the COVID-19 cases reported over the weekend.

For more information on groups currently eligible to receive a PCR test, please visit our website.

For the most up to date information on COVID-19, visit www.bchu.org/coronavirus.