Manitoba health officials announced one new probable case of COVID-19 in the province in a daily update March 26.
A lack of supplies has meant only people returning from international travel have been tested, but that is expected to change as soon as March 27.
The Cadham Provincial Laboratory conducted over 700 tests March 25. More than 5,600 people in Manitoba have been tested since the outbreak began.
Manitoba chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said capacity had expanded at Cadham, new groups of people will now be tested.
“Our testing strategy has to balance with our current capacity,” he said.
“Cadham has been able to work around some of the worldwide shortages of reagent. That's why we see the increase in the amount of tests they've been able to perform as of yesterday and they'll continue to work on those efforts to increase our lab capacity and as that increases, we're going to further amend our testing protocols.”
Roussin said the expanded testing criteria will now include health care workers and fly-in First Nations community members with COVID-19 symptoms.
Officials said the new case is a man from Winnipeg with a link to a previous positive COVID-19 test. There are 36 positive tests in Manitoba.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced earlier March 26 self-isolation is now required after international travel. Roussin added that Manitoba is telling all irregular out of province travellers to self-isolate as well.
“We’re not really asking,” he said.
“We have the ability to use measures to limit the risk to Manitobans for those who might be taking actions that put the health of Manitobans at risk.”
Roussin said travel within the province is still mostly okay and closing provincial borders completely isn’t being considered in the immediate future. Such a closure will not likely include barriers in border communities like Flin Flon or for communities near the border like Creighton or Denare Beach that rely on some Manitoba services.
“Within the province right now, there's no reason for us to restrict interprovincial travel with the exception of remote, isolated communities,” he said.
Testing for COVID-19 in Manitoba has been done only through referrals. People are encouraged to call Health Links - Info Santé at (204) 788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257 toll free for more information. Average call wait times have dropped from nearly three hours a week ago to under 25 minutes March 25.
