Manitoba’s efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may be working. Provincial chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced no new cases in Manitoba at an April 14 briefing.
Roussin said while no new tests was good news, people should not yet believe COVID-19 danger has been reduced.
“I caution Manitobans to not interpret these current case numbers to mean our risk is reduced,” he said.
“We need to continue our efforts in our social distancing strategies to limit the spread of this virus. This may indicate that our efforts are starting to show effect, but now is not the time to loosen up our struggles.”
Over 350 tests were conducted at Winnipeg's Cadham Provincial Laboratory April 13. No new people were listed as recovered. Manitoba’s active COVID-19 case count remains at 142.
“We're going to see, in the days ahead, if the test volumes were just a function of the holiday weekend,” Roussin said.
“If so, then we're going to expand our testing criteria again to keep our numbers up.”
Roussin said Manitoba would continue to expand testing, but only with symptomatic people.
“There's certainly some reports of pre-symptomatic or maybe asymptomatic transmission, but that's not what's driving this outbreak,” he said.
“It's symptomatic people and close prolonged contact with them.”
Roussin said any symptomatic people in hospital are tested and hospitalization rates indicate officials have detected most cases in Manitoba.
“Our positive test proportion is quite low, under two per cent,” he said.
“We definitely want to expand our testing and we will, but right now, evidence is not really showing us that we're missing any hidden hidden transmission.”
Manitoba chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said minimizing risk to long-term care facilities has been a priority. She said prevention measures have been put in place in facilities across Manitoba, including restricting visitors and enhanced testing.
“We have seen some terrible effects of outbreaks in care homes, both in this country and around the world,” she said.
“Throughout Manitoba, the staffing levels at the personal care homes do remain stable.”
Earlier in the day, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced any frontline health care worker who had to self-isolate because of COVID-19 would be compensated for time off.
