Manitoba extends COVID-19 public health orders for 2 more weeks
4 new cases of COVID-19 announced Monday, bringing province's total to 246
Manitoba has extended public health orders shutting down non-essential businesses and limiting public gatheringsfor an additional two weeks.
Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer, announced the extension of theorders under the province's Public Health Act on Monday, in an effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The orders, which were introduced on March 30, were previously set to expire on Tuesday. They are now set to expire on April 28.
Under the current rules, bars, hair salons and massage therapy offices are shut down andrestaurants are banned from serving eat-in service.
Businesses are allowed to do repairs, provide security servicesor take items out of a closed establishmentif theyoperate on a remote basis.
The province is likely to enhance the orders later this week, Roussin said.He declined to providespecifics of what that could look like.
WATCH | Dr. Brent Roussin extends Manitoba public health orders
Four new cases of COVID-19 were announced Monday, bringing the province's total to 246.
"We have to keep this up, or we will see those numbers climb again," Roussin said.
Roussin said Monday physical distancing measures are expected to be in place into the summer. However, he said they're unlikely to be as restrictive as they are now. When the province does begin rolling back restrictions, it will start with businesses first and keep an eye on the numbers,he said.
But for now, Roussin said the key takeaway for Manitobans must be to stay the course with physical distancing.
"I think we're at a critical juncture," Roussin said. "These type of restrictions, we're looking to roll them back as soon as possible."
The province's active caseload is at 143 as of Monday. Nineteen new cases were announced over the long weekend.
"We are still early in this outbreak. But these numbers show that our efforts are having some benefit," Roussin said.
"These numbers certainly are remaining low, but that could change if we loosen up on our strategies at this point."
Eight people are in hospital, including four in intensive care units. Four Manitobanswith COVID-19 have died since the pandemic began and 99people have recovered.
Roussin said he's not aware of any "re-infections," where a recovered person has tested positive for COVID-19 again after recovery.
Rapid testing
Manitoba will begin validating a new, rapidtest for COVID-19 on Tuesday, Roussin said. The portable genetic test from Spartan Bioscience was approved by Health Canada earlier Monday morning.
"Even though it's been approved, we still have to see how it performs based on the PCR[polymerase chain reaction testing] at the lab as well," Roussin said. "That work will start tomorrow, and once we're convinced that it's a valid test, then we'll start utilizing that."
Validation work will be done at a Winnipeg acute care facility, Roussin said. How long it takes will depend on how many patients the centre sees per day to test it on.
Once validated, Roussin said health officials are looking at using the test in hospital admissions and remote areas.
"We're looking at a lot of avenues for that," he said. "It'll depend on how many tests are available, how many units are available."
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The province's Cadham Provincial Laboratory has completed17,245 tests since early February. The lab completed 32 tests on Easter Sunday, Roussin said.
"These numbers reflect the decreased demand for testing over the Easter weekend," he said.
PPE, pandemic projections
So far, the province has not released any projections of how many Manitobanscouldbe sickened or die from COVID-19. Ottawa and several other provinces have already made their numbers public.
Roussin said Monday modelling for Manitoba may be made public in the next weeks.
Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer with Shared Health, said she's "cautiously optimistic" about the province's stores of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health-care workers. The province has been revising its guidelines and lookingfor ways to reserve equipment where possible, she said.
Siragusa had said last week the province had received a "fraction" of the supplies it ordered from the federal government, and was within a week or two of using up its supply ofN95 masks, gloves and gowns.
"I think as long as we are using them appropriately, I believe we have at least a couple of weeks [worth] now, and we have more coming or being made as we speak," Siragusa said.
The province is also looking at expanding testing in the future, Roussin said. When that happens, high-priority categories mayinclude additional symptomatic critical workers and symptomatic members of the public.
WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | April 13, 2020
Currently in the province, testing is limited to symptomatic people who fall into certain categories. These include people who have travelled outside Manitoba in the past 14 days, those who have been in close contact with a confirmed case, health-care workers, first responders and lab workers who have worked with COVID-19 tests.
Symptomatic people who live in northern Manitoba, a First Nation,or a remote or isolated community may also be tested, the province says, as can people living in a congregate setting, such as a shelter or a long-term care centre.
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