Province changes COVID epidemiology reporting, provides less detail

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This article was published 21/11/2022 (764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Changes to Manitoba’s provincial COVID-19 data may make it more difficult for some researchers to ascertain early warning signs at this point in the pandemic.

Last week, for the first time since it began regularly posting COVID-19 data, the province replaced its COVID epidemiology report with a combined report on several respiratory viruses. The latest report, which is available online by pdf, includes more information on the current surge of influenza cases and notes respiratory syncytial virus cases are also increasing, but it leaves out some of the detailed COVID-19 figures some Manitobans may have come to expect.

The new report format doesn’t include cumulative totals of COVID-19-related hospitalizations or deaths, and many of the raw numbers have been stripped away in favour of percentages. The province continues to report severe COVID outcomes by age, for example, but only via a percentage of cases.

Previously, in its daily, and then weekly, COVID-19 reports, Manitoba had been publishing some of the most detailed hospitalization counts in the country, said a researcher studying COVID-19 nationally.

Tara Moriarty, a University of Toronto professor, is co-founder of the COVID-19 Resources Canada research group. The group relies on provincial and federal data — including from Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada — to publish weekly reports that outline COVID-19 risk levels in each province. Manitoba’s threat level appears to be slowly improving, Moriarty said Tuesday, but the provincial government’s new report format makes it more difficult to track hospitalizations and deaths over time.

“We see multiple provinces switching to this style of reporting a lot less information about severe outcomes by age group, and it’s making it harder and harder to understand what’s happening and to have early warning signals about things that may be happening that we need to be aware of. So it’s very concerning,” Moriarty said.

Ultimately, the research group will rely on data collected from provinces by the Public Health Agency of Canada — with typically months-long delays. The provincial reports were a way for researchers to understand threat levels more quickly, Moriarty said, adding Manitoba and Quebec are the only provinces that appear to clearly report all COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

Although the data was delayed and Manitoba wasn’t considered a “fast-reporting province,” she said, the information was detailed.

“Manitoba has reported its epidemiological data well, and it should be a source of pride for the province. The less information there is, the harder it is for researchers to estimate the impact of COVID,” she said.

“For a small province with a lot fewer resources than Quebec, Manitoba did a pretty great job, and it’s sad that the transparency they emphasized is no longer a major priority.”

Changes to provincial epidemiological reports won’t have any effect on longer-term research such as the COVID-19 studies Alan Katz is conducting using Manitoba health data. Katz and his team have been delving into long COVID, with study results now not expected until next spring at the earliest.

Data for his study comes directly, in non-identifying form, through Manitoba Health, Katz said. The lack of cumulative hospitalization counts and cumulative death toll doesn’t affect his work.

“It shouldn’t affect patients, either,” he said. “What is crucial for people now is to know what is my risk of infection… and the best data for that is wastewater (surveillance.)”

Katz said he likes the combined respiratory virus dashboard.

“I think it does give people enough good information,” especially since multiple viruses are circulating right now. “Putting them together is useful and makes good sense. The only thing that I think could be added to that is information around wastewater data with regard to COVID,” which is not in the provincial reports but is reported federally through the Public Health Agency of Canada.

No longer available data that would help his research, however, is widespread lab test results.

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said the province shouldn’t be reducing transparency.

“I think that it’s important for this government to ensure that they’re still providing that information to Manitobans in a transparent way to make sure that people are up to date on what’s going on in their communities,” Asagwara said.

”Especially now, I mean we’re seeing this incredible burden on our pediatric hospital. We’re seeing children (hospitalized) and a lot of people still have questions about why that’s the case and what they need to do to protect themselves and their families.”

The provincial government didn’t respond to a Free Press request for an explanation for the epidemiological report changes Tuesday.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca