HKPR District Health Unit – Outbreak Declaration Removed at Case Manor Due to Lab Error
The local health unit today lifted an outbreak at Case Manor in Bobcaygeon after new test results showed there were no positive COVID-19 cases in either the residents or staff of the facility.
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit declared the outbreak “does not meet case definition for an outbreak based on laboratory error.” The Health Unit had declared an outbreak in the facility on April 26 after 12 asymptomatic staff and residents tested positive for COVID-19. The tests had been conducted as part of the enhanced surveillance testing being implemented under the province’s COVID-19 Action Plan for Protecting Long-Term Care Homes.
On May 1, the HKPR District Health Unit was notified by BioTest Laboratories in Ottawa that a technical error prompted the lab to reject all COVID-19 positive test results performed the previous weekend, including the 12 specimens from staff and residents of Case Manor and one test from a resident of Adelaide Place in Lindsay. There was a concern that these results may have shown a positive test result, when they were negative.
The individuals at Case Manor were all notified immediately and swabbed again, with the new tests sent to a different lab. Those tests have all returned as negative.
The individual from Adelaide Place was also retested with that new test result also returning as negative. That outbreak was declared “does not meet case definition for an outbreak based on laboratory error” on May 5.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love