There were four new cases of COVID-19 detected in Manitoba May 1, according to provincial officials.
None of those cases were located in the Northern Health Region (NHR). Only three cases have been detected in the NHR since the outbreak began. Fifteen people have been declared recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours.
An increase in the number of people eligible to be tested meant nearly 700 people were tested April 30. More than 25,000 Mantiobans have been tested.
The province will be relaxing some aspects of existing public health orders May 4, allowing some retail businesses to operate at reduced capacity. Travel to northern Manitoba is still restricted.
Provincial chief provincial health officer Dr. Brent Roussin warned against taking the loose restrictions as permission to mean a return to normal. He said Manitoba is still in the early stages of the fight against COVID-19.
“These heavy restrictions also have huge impacts on health, so we need to find a way to balance the need to protect those most susceptible… with the other types of health factors that these restrictions have been affecting,” he said.
“We are gradually reopening things, but we want Manitobans to remain cautious.”
The number of active cases declined in Manitoba over the past day settling at 38.
Roussin said Manitoba’s testing capacity has risen beyond demand, but with so few positive cases, there is not currently a need to expand the number of tests.
“It doesn’t make sense to do thousands upon thousands of tests when you’re getting a 0.5 per cent of those tests coming back positive,” he said.
“It’s the positive test rate that’s important. If we’re getting these type of numbers with that rate, I’m happy with those. What’s more important is we’ve opened up the criteria.
Any person with COVID-19 symptoms can now get tested for the virus in Manitoba.
“To date we have not had significant community based transmission, or outbreaks in personal care homes,” Roussin said.
“We’ve been able to implement a number of ways to protect those most susceptible to the most severe outcomes of this virus.”
With the loosening of the public health orders, Roussin said enforcement will play a bigger role.
“Most of [the enforcement] revolves around education and assistance, but the ability to enforce is there,” he said.
“We have a number of health inspectors already on board. Certainly nothing’s off the table in terms of expanding things, but right now we’re in a good place when it comes to being able to enforce things.”
Any Manitoban with COVID-19 symptoms is encouraged to call Health Links-Info Santé (204) 788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257.
