Northern Health staff have seen the severity of COVID-19 impacts first hand. In the last month, cases have shot up across the region, and this has put significant pressure on health care to respond. As part of the response, the Northern Health case and contact management (CCM) team is quickly scaling up operations. This includes:
- Increasing the number of staff making calls to cases and contacts.
- Prioritizing contact tracing to only priority settings. For example, health care and long-term care, First Nations communities, K-12 schools, childcare facilities, and industrial camps.
Despite these efforts, there is currently up to a 10-day delay for people who have tested positive to be contacted by public health. We ask for your patience and respect toward CCM staff in these unprecedented times as we scale up our response and work on reducing the delay.
What to do if you test positive for COVID-19
If you test positive for COVID-19, regardless of your vaccination status, self-isolate for 10 days from when your symptoms first started. Please notify your close contacts, who can then self-isolate and/or watch for symptoms. This Notice of Exposure to COVID-19 letter provides information for close contacts on what to do based on their vaccination status.
See more information on testing and close contacts.
How to get tested
If you have COVID-19 symptoms, please call your primary care provider or the Northern Health Virtual Primary and Community Care Clinic at 1-844-645-7811 for assessment and testing.
COVID-19 testing locations are in communities across the Northern Health region. Appointments are required.
See more information on testing.
How to protect yourself
The best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated and follow Public Health guidance (see the newest Public Health orders for the Northern Health region).
Find a vaccine clinic near you.
The role of case and contact management
Case and contact management (CCM) is an important public health tool in reducing new cases and making households, workplaces, and communities safer. CCM helps reduce the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring cases and contacts know to isolate, what to do, and who to contact if they need help. Information gathered from people who have tested positive for the virus allows the public health team to identify trends and sites of exposures, monitor disease levels, and decide on appropriate actions.
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