A person who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month was at Flin Flon General Hospital three times when they may have been infectious.
Provincial health authorities added the facility to its list of possible public exposure sites Dec. 31, listing three separate times between Dec. 20-23 when a person who tested positive and may have been infectious was at the hospital's emergency department waiting room. A person who later tested positive for COVID-19 was at the waiting room Dec. 20 from 6:41 p.m.-7:45 p.m., Dec. 22 from 6:51 p.m.-7:51 p.m. and Dec. 23 from 3:33 a.m.-4:06 a.m.
The person was at the hospital for a total of about two and a half hours between the three possible exposure times.
The Reminder has reached out to the Northern Health Region (NHR) for comment and for more information. No information about positive tests or cases related to the exposure, if there are any, has yet been provided.
During previous possible public exposures in northern Manitoba, anyone who may have been in an area where a person may have been infectious has been asked to self-monitor for symptoms and, if they develop, self-isolate or present for testing.
As of Dec. 31, provincial government statistics show two cases of COVID-19 remain active in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon health district. An outbreak designation is still in effect for the Northern Lights Manor after at least three people - one staff member and two residents - tested positive for COVID-19. There are 34 active COVID-19 cases in the far north east 2 health zone in Saskatchewan, which contains Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and other communities in the region.
In total, 996 cases of COVID-19 remained active in the NHR as of Dec. 31. Most of the cases are related to ongoing outbreaks in remote and Indigenous communities in northeast Manitoba.
