Health Committee on May 19th, 2020

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Again, definitely listen to your local public health advice, because there are differences in activities across Canada, but everybody appreciates that it's important for mental and physical health for people to get outside. The risk of transmission is lower outside. The key transmission settings are indoors, in more crowded settings and where you can't maintain the two metres.

My message to all Canadians is to go out safely. If you go out safely, you can. It still means maintaining that physical distancing, keeping within your household cluster, observing your handwashing, not touching your face and wearing a mask if you can't keep that two-metre distance in crowded conditions. All of those layers of protection will allow people to get outside and enjoy some of the fresh air.

We've had a good discussion at the special advisory committee where they're looking at the reopening of different businesses, etc., because inside is where the transmission risk is. They will be very cautious about the number of people that can be maintained in an indoor setting while maintaining the public health measures. Going outside is something that should be encouraged, but doing it safely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

We go now to M. Desilets for two minutes and a half.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to start by thanking the witnesses for being here and sharing their insight with the committee members.

I have a short preamble. Today is World Family Doctor Day, respiratory therapist day and orderly day, so I wanted to take this opportunity to bring attention to those days. We'd like to recognize all of those workers and thank them.

My first question is unfortunately for Dr. Tam.

I say “unfortunately”, Dr. Tam, because we aren't going to go easy on you.

We're hearing about immunity certificates lately. Could you briefly comment on that? Do you agree with the concept, ethically or otherwise?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Right now, some of the other experts on this panel said we don't understand enough of the immunology of the virus. If it behaves like other viruses, there will be some immunity if you have antibodies. We don't know for how long and how strong. Depending on your local epidemiology, some of these results may be false positives or may not have detected the antibody even if you had it. That's why the immunity task force and researchers studying the human immune system are extremely important in getting at some of those questions. From that perspective, we can't yet interpret the results of those tests.

You also brought up an important point, which is that perhaps there is an ethical dimension to this, when you are now separating people who have an antibody identified and those who do not and what that means and whether there will be a stigma attached to that one way or the other, to people who have been infected or not. It is a very important point, and one that the immunity task force will also be looking at.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I see.

Would the certificate hold true in the event of a second wave or second strain?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Again, it depends on whether the antibody responds to changes or not, and whether the tests for the antibodies will need to be adapted, but I think, as some of our other experts have said, there is no current indication of a separate strain. It absolutely has to be monitored, because it's important not just for the antibody tests, but for the vaccine development as well.

If the characteristic of the virus changes, it is possible that the interpretation of the test or how well the test performs also will have to be re-evaluated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

We now go again to Mr. Davies. Please go ahead for two minutes and a half.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Dr. Tam, on April 28 Canada's first ministers released a joint statement on restarting the economy. That statement identified the criteria and measures that need to be in place to take steps to do so, including “Sufficient public health capacity is in place to test, trace, and isolate” and control the spread of the virus.

Dr. Tam, given that Canada is currently only conducting about 30,000 tests per day, are you confident that all provinces and territories meet that criterion?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

We have to look at the indicators more broadly, but everybody agrees that we need more testing capacity, so that is important. We are continuing to increase the public health capacity.

At the local level, people need to be able to assess whether that capacity on the ground is sufficient to detect any resurgence of cases, so they can be reassured that if there are cases, they will be detected.

We are updating some national laboratory guidance—we referenced that as well—to look at how we broaden the testing to people with milder symptoms, but also looking at some of the other considerations in lowering the threshold for testing in certain high-risk conditions. Also, I know some provinces are beginning to test more widely in the communities. They should be part of surveillance systems or pilot studies so we can get data on what happens when you test under those conditions.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I'd like to drill into that, Dr. Tam, as I have very limited time.

We have conducted a little over one million tests. We know the City of Wuhan is testing up to a million people per day and that we're well below jurisdictions like Germany and South Korea, which have experienced new infection clusters.

What is keeping us at such a low rate of testing? Is it a lack of laboratory capacity? Is it a lack of testing kits? Why is Canada stuck at 30,000, when you have said our target should be about 60,000 tests a day? How can we get there?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Based on our scan of the provinces and territories, there is actually public health laboratory capacity to do 60,000 tests a day. Some provinces are testing below their maximum capacity. They have the capacity for a surge of testing, but some of them are not testing because they have very little activity. They are opening up their society accordingly.

In some areas, particularly where there has been quite a significant amount of activity, I know that jurisdictions are trying to increase the amount of testing they are doing now, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

That ends our third round of questions.

I'd like to thank all the witnesses for sharing your time, your great presentations and of course your expertise.

I would like to thank the committee for sitting here for three hours and getting all this information out into the open.

I declare the meeting adjourned.