From good management to 'good luck' on COVID-19

As the province shifts to a new approach to COVID-19, some New Brunswickers say they feel they've been left on their own to cope with the pandemic.

Public Health is no longer contacting everyone who tests positive or tracing contacts of those positive cases. Exposure notifications are gone. Low-risk groups can no longer get an official PCR test, and that means daily case counts are likely less and less accurate.

"I've come to the point where we've moved from good management to 'good luck,'" says Grand Bay-Westfield resident Heather Shuve.

Saint John resident Caitlin Grogan tested positive on Dec. 20. Though she and her partner, also positive, were promised calls from Public Health for guidance on isolation, the calls never came.

"I still have not received a call from Public Health, and I don't think I will at this point.."

Grogan said she was left to sort out for herself what to do by checking with a friend who works in the health-care system and doing extensive research online.

"It did require using all my social connections in order to get the most current information. I think people with less resources or, frankly, who don't care as much just wouldn't get that information.

"It requires a certain amount of research ability and social connections that not everybody has."

With the fast-spreading Omicron variant now dominant in New Brunswick, the province expects to reach a thousand cases per day this week.

And that has overwhelmed Public Health's ability to keep up with tasks that residents of the province have taken for granted since the pandemic began.

Only people in certain higher-risk groups can now book an appointment for a PCR test. Everyone else with symptoms will be told to use a rapid test at home.

If they're positive, they're now expected to let all their contacts know themselves, rather than giving the information to Public Health to trace.

"We are confident in that method in terms of helping people understand that yes, they are positive, yes they can inform their close contacts, and take all the steps in terms of isolation that they need to as well," Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said Tuesday.

Those testing positive will also be asked to register their cases online themselves.