Fraser Health launches new coronavirus case-tracking website

Jul 23 2020, 5:19 pm

The Fraser Health Authority announced Thursday it has launched a new webpage that lists locations and times of known possible public exposures to COVID-19 in instances where health officials “haven’t been able to reach or identify people who have been potentially exposed during the contact tracing process.”

The webpage provides a list of current public COVID-19 exposures and includes information about the community, location, address, date, and times that pertain to each exposure.

“We have recently seen an uptick of cases in our communities and I would like to remind people to remain vigilant in reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19,” said Fraser Health interim Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin. “We must continue to practice physical distancing, wash our hands frequently, and keep our social circles small.”

By doing so, said Brodkin, “we can reduce the number of possible exposures to COVID-19 and ensure we are protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities as well as ourselves and our loved ones.”

As part of the contact tracing process, Fraser Health said its public health teams follow up with all confirmed COVID-19 cases and their close contacts. And when they are unable to identify “specific individuals at a location” who were potentially exposed, they “will post these possible exposures to our webpage.”

Fraser Health stressed that just because a person has been in one of the locations listed and during the times of possible exposure, “it does not mean they will develop COVID-19.”

And while possible exposures listed on the webpage are believed to be low risk, Fraser Health said that “out of an abundance of caution,” it asks anyone who may have visited any of these locations during the specific dates and times to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19.

Still, the health authority said that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms – however mild they may be – should call HealthLink BC at 811, seek testing, and then self-isolate.

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