COVID-19 cases up to 64; stricter limits ban gatherings of more than 10

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This article was published 28/03/2020 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Twenty-five new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Manitoba since Friday morning, bringing the total number of probable or lab-confirmed cases to 64 as the province prepares to enact new, stricter guidelines on gathering sizes in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. 

It was too soon to say whether any of the 25 new cases came through so-called “pop up” community transmission, Manitoba’s chief public health officer Brent Roussin said at Saturday morning’s news briefing. So far, he said, all of the previously identified cases have been linked to travel. 

Roussin emphasized the significant increase is not surprising, as COVID-19 continues its march across the globe.

“These are numbers that we expected to see,” he said. “These are the numbers we’ve been planning all along to see, and we know that we’re going to expect numbers to increase over time. We’re going to see community transmission here in Manitoba. It’s what we’ve been preparing for.”

One person is now battling the virus in intensive care, Roussin said. He had no further details about that patient. 

The increase in cases comes as Manitoba is preparing to implement stricter public health orders, which will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Public gatherings will now be limited to 10 people, while retail stores and public transit must ensure there is space of one to two metres between people. 

The 10-person limit applies to places of worship and gatherings such as weddings and funerals. It does not apply to health-care facilities or social service providers, such as child-care centres and homeless shelters. These changes, along with Manitobans’ adherence to physical distancing, can help contain COVID-19, Roussin stressed.

“This is not the time for fear,” Roussin said. “This is the time for knowledge. It’s the time for credible information. And it’s time for action. So if you haven’t been able to implement those social distancing strategies yet, start today. It’s not too late. We can interrupt the transmission starting today if everyone starts doing their part.”

Meanwhile, Manitoba is still working to get a handle on a mountain of COVID-19 tests and notifications.

On Friday, 919 tests for COVID-19 were processed, bringing the total number of completed tests to 7,147. New screening sites opened Friday in Portage la Prairie and Eriksdale, which tested 19 and six people respectively. In addition, the new Pine Falls site tested 18 people in advance of its official opening on Monday.

Chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa stressed that these are not walk-in locations. Testing in Manitoba is done via referral only. Any person concerned about their exposure to or risk of having COVID-19 should call Health Links at 204-788-8200, or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257 to see if a test is required.

Siragusa also described how the province is making progress clearing a large notification backlog for negative tests, after enlisting laboratory company Dynacare to help handle making calls. While positive tests were given priority for notification, those with negative results waited days just to learn they didn’t have the virus. 

With Dynacare taking over some of that backlog on Friday, 800 Manitobans were informed of their negative results, Siragusa said. She added that those still waiting for results can expect a call on Monday. 

Some Manitobans have found their lives disrupted by the slow pace of notifications. 

After returning from a trip to the U.S. early this month, one Winnipeg health-care worker began a 14-day quarantine. When she developed mild flu symptoms, she was referred for testing at the Access Fort Garry site on March 19, and was initially told she would receive results within four days. 

Saturday — nine days later — a call confirmed her test was negative.

On Saturday, the provincial NDP called for greater transparency from the province around testing. Specifically, the opposition is asking the province to publicly report how many swabs have been taken and tests completed at each screening site, and to report on the number of tests in queue to be processed. 

“Testing plays an important part in our ability to flatten the curve,” NDP leader Wab Kinew said in a statement. “When armed with all the information they need, Manitobans will feel better about their health, and the health of our own communities.”

Elsewhere in Canada, there are some early signs of hope. 

The jump in Manitoba comes one day after British Columbia released new internal data showing that its mitigation strategies, including physical distancing, may be showing success at flattening the curve of the virus’s spread from an average 24 per cent daily increase to 12 per cent as of March 21. 

The two provinces are at very different places in the epidemic’s spread. B.C. recorded its first case of COVID-19 in January, and has documented community transmission since the first week of March. But its models could offer an encouraging sign that efforts to slow the spread of the virus can work. 

Roussin said Manitoba hopes to have similar projections to show Manitobans in the coming weeks. 

“We are working on that, and we will try to get something together,” he said. “All along we’ve had early statistical analyses done… We have partners at the national level helping us.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca