Since the pandemic began, the southwest corner of the province, with a few exceptions, has been relatively lucky.  11 active cases, 575 total historically and only 3 deaths.

By any metric, the region has been objectively unscathed in comparison to other parts of the province.

But one metric that has not received a lot of attention; a metric that might shine a new light on the southwest's fortune, is a cause for concern for doctors.

Testing numbers.

By most counts the lowest in the province, the region testing totals as a percentage to population sits relatively low at 3.5 percent.

According to Dr. Kristine Pederson, a family physician in Swift current and a part of the COVID-19 planning committee for the city, those numbers in the past month were even lower; with a total testing percentage of 2.4 percent in comparison to the southeast at 4.5 percent and the provincial number higher still at 6.2.

"So corrected for population, our numbers are much lower for testing than in other parts of the province and I think we really need to improve that."

It's a chicken or the egg situation.  Are our low testing numbers the result of fewer people feeling sick or coming down with COVID?  Or are our lower COVID numbers the result of fewer people with symptoms bothering to get tested.

Dr. Pederson doesn't have that answer.  But she does say that there could be a false sense of security.

"I think there really is a sense of reassurance in the southwest.  People see low numbers and they feel that there aren't a lot of cases going on in our area.  As so then why get tested?"

She believes that there also is come hesitancy in the area due to potentially myths and misinformation about the virus; although those concerns hardly exist only in the southwest.

Far more likely, as she has heard from quite a few people in her role, are those who assume that they've contracted the virus, and choose to self-isolate without getting tested first to make sure; residents who felt symptoms after being exposed and simply assumed they were positive and self-isolated accordingly without ever seeing a doctor.

"I find that disappointing because I think that does really give a false sense of reassurance in our community that we're not having cases when really, we are.  They're just not being reported in the numbers.  And it also allows for people to not necessarily follow the proper public health recommendations after testing positive."

Much of that comes down to the after COVID care; the ability to perform proper in-depth contact tracing, the tracking of possibly long term side-effects of having the disease, and other concerns.  While commendable to self-isolate, it's only a single piece of the public health protocol.

"There's also some value of documenting a positive case in case you run into other health problems in the future.  We don't really know what the long-term effects of COVID-19 are yet, and it might be useful in the future to know whether someone was positive in the past or not."

Drop-in testing is available from Monday to Thursday at Swift Current's testing site on Walker Place between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m until further notice, and Dr. Pederson stresses that you don't necessarily need to call 811 or your family doctor to get an appointment.  

"Low case numbers are only reassuring if we have adequate testing numbers.  And we don't have adequate testing numbers right now."