CALGARY — With the winter cold and flu season approaching, the province is changing its COVID-19 testing approach and will be prioritizing Albertans with symptoms and those who are at higher risk of getting or spreading the novel coronavirus.

The goal, health officials said Thursday, is to reduce testing wait times and speed up access to results.

Voluntary asymptomatic testing is also being offered to:

•  School teachers and support staff;
•  Health care workers;
•  Staff and residents at congregate living facilities, including long-term care;
•  Albertans experiencing homelessness;
•  Travellers who require testing prior to departure;
•  Asymptomatic testing will be available to additional groups if required, and;
•  Anyone who is not showing symptoms but is concerned about their health should speak to the health care provider.

Alberta Health admitted that the method of testing Albertans who are not exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 isn’t coming up with a large percentage of the daily cases.

“(Asymptomatic testing) yields seven positive cases for every 10,000 people tested,” Hinshaw said during Thursday’s update.

“(This) emphasizes the fact that this testing is not contributing significantly to the new cases that we are seeing.”

However, Hinshaw said locating and identifying individual cases of COVID-19 wasn’t the aim of asymptomatic testing in the first place.The goal was to help researchers learn more about the illness and how it spreads in the community.

“I would like to thank everyone who participated in the asymptomatic testing program in the recent months,” said Hinshaw. “This testing has given us a far better understanding of how COVID-19 is and isn’t spread.”

Alberta has conducted more than 223,000 voluntary asymptomatic tests since May 29.

Given the ratio Hinshaw mentioned earlier, this means only about 162 of those tests returned positive results.

Anyone who is experiencing symptoms should self-isolate and book a test online using the AHS assessment tool, or call 811.

Pharmacies are also offering testing for Albertans without symptoms and no known exposure to COVID-19 and more information is available online.

Earlier this week, AHS confirmed the location of drop-in COVID-19 testing centre in Calgary had been moved to the former Greyhound Bus terminal, just off 14th Street, between Ninth Avenue and Bow Trail S.W.

The Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, which had previously been the location for drop-in testing, still does tests but by appointment only.

Officials reported 146 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday as active cases continued to increase in the Edmonton region.

Infections decreased slightly to 1,483 across Alberta. Edmonton saw its cases spike to 672, while Calgary’s cases declined from 447 to 416.

There are 41 people being treated in hospital and eight of those are in intensive care.

There were no new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, keeping the count at 254.

Alberta has reported 16,274 cases of COVID-19 since March.

With files from CTV Calgary’s Michael Franklin

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WRITTEN BY LAURA OSMAN ON APRIL 15, 2020 FOR THE CANADIAN PRESS

Emergency doctors have been warned to try to avoid using the limited supply of medications needed for patients on ventilators, as they could be critical in the fight against COVID-19.

Putting a patient on an artificial breathing machine, as happens with people severely sick with COVID-19, usually requires a sedative such as propofol, and painkillers such as fentanyl and morphine.

The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians wrote a statement to members, warning them of potential shortages of those drugs and their responsibility for conserving them.

“These medications are increasingly used in the emergency department, in addition to their traditional use in the OR and ICU,” the association wrote. “As such, emergency physicians have some agency with respect to their use and increasing responsibility for their stewardship.”

Propofol and morphine shortages have already been reported to Health Canada by some manufacturers in the last week.These medications are increasingly used in the emergency department, in addition to their traditional use in the OR and ICU.

The association warned Canada’s shortage could become critical in weeks.

“This would have significant clinical impact and therefore requires immediate investigation and action,” the association wrote in a statement.

There are fears a shortage of the drugs could aggravate a dreaded scenario in which ICUs are flooded with critical COVID-19 patients.

Emergency doctors have been warned to try to safeguard the limited supply by looking for alternative medications and reducing waste.

The group has called on federal and provincial governments to review the existing stock and keep doctors informed.

They also suggest the government needs to manage the national supply of those vital drugs, and create incentives for domestic production to avoid shortages.

Countries around the world have grappled with drug shortages, as the virus has wrought havoc on manufacturing plants and distribution.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and Procurement Canada are working to secure a steady supply of essential medications, needed for daily use as well as the treatment of COVID-19, the prime minister said Wednesday.

“We have very strong relationships around the world on getting medication and necessary supplies,” Justin Trudeau said.

He said the government is doing everything it can to make sure hospitals and patients have what they need.

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