Some asymptomatic care home workers to be tested

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This article was published 17/12/2020 (1944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba will begin limited asymptomatic surveillance testing of health-care workers in a bid to keep COVID-19 out of personal care homes.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen said a pilot project will start Dec. 21 at three long-term care facilities.

“(This) will expand the asymptomatic testing that is already underway in personal care homes by testing staff who do not have any symptoms, and is the first step in plans for an expansion of this work to other sites in the weeks ahead,” Friesen said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

The first three homes to benefit from enhanced screening are Donwood Manor and Deer Lodge Centre in Winnipeg and Country Meadows in Neepawa. The pilot will run for four weeks.

Staff will be offered voluntary, rapid tests on a weekly basis, according to the province, which is leveraging the 87,000 Abbott Panbio COVID-19 rapid antigen tests it received from the federal government in early November.

The test produces a result in 20 minutes, though it must be confirmed by a laboratory, and staff at the care homes will be trained to administer the swab.

“The pilot project will help us establish the most appropriate application of this expanded sentinel testing, as well as training and deployment processes that will support broader availability if the pilot proves successful.”

Long-term care home operators have called for asymptomatic testing of staff, as have the families of residents, as an additional infection control measure.

Presently, there are 46 COVID-19 outbreaks at care homes across Manitoba.

Laura Gallant, a spokeswoman for Extendicare, said the company has pressed for asymptomatic testing in staff. Extendicare currently operates three Winnipeg homes grappling with outbreaks: Tuxedo Villa, River East and Oakview Place.

“Routine testing of staff on a regular basis is required to identify sources of the virus and remove them from the home. We can’t fight the virus if we don’t know where it is or who might be carrying it,” Gallant said. “(Extendicare) strongly believe it is critical that we implement weekly testing of all long-term care staff in Manitoba.”

Seven of the 14 COVID-19 deaths reported Thursday were tied to an outbreak at a care home: a man in his 80s from Kin Place (Oakbank); a woman in her 80s, a woman in her 90s and a man in his 90s from Charleswood Care Centre (Winnipeg); a woman in her 90s and a woman in her 100s from Maples (Winnipeg); and a woman in her 90s from Convalescent Home of Winnipeg.

Also among the pandemic fatalities: a woman in her 30s and a man in his 60s from Southern Health; a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s, a man in his 70s and a man in his 80s from Winnipeg, and a woman in her 50s from Interlake-Eastern.

Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 537.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin implored people to resist the temptation to gather through the holiday season, after 221 new infections were reported Thursday.

“We really advise people not to socialize outside of your household,” Roussin said during a media briefing. “We’re starting to see those trends go in the right direction with our numbers, we’re at a real big risk of letting up too early and seeing that climb in early January.”

New cases were reported in all regions, including 111 in Winnipeg, 51 in Northern Health; 27 in Southern Health; 21 in Interlake-Eastern; and 11 in Prairie Mountain.

Provincewide, the five-day test positivity rate was 13 per cent, and 13.2 per cent in Winnipeg. On Wednesday, 2,235 tests were run at area laboratories.

While community transmission of COVID-19 accounts for roughly 30 per cent of new infections across Manitoba, Roussin said public health investigators have a good idea of where people are picking up the virus.

“We’re seeing a lot of household transmission, a lot of transmission within those multigenerational homes, seeing transmission in facilities where there’s outbreaks of course, and still with gatherings,” Roussin said.

“There is nothing about this virus that has surprised us. It’s transmitting the way we thought it was in the high-risk scenarios,” he said, adding gatherings for funerals have resulted in new cases.

“We know nobody intends to start large outbreaks, but it’s very difficult to perceive that in your individual circumstance you’re putting others at risk or you’re being put at risk, but it absolutely holds true.”

As of Thursday morning, there were 382 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the province; 314 were infectious.

Manitoba’s ICUs were at 158 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity, with a total of 114 patients — 48 of whom were COVID-19 patients (42 active infections).

Outbreaks at Victoria General Hospital unit 4 South, Concordia Hospital unit N2 East, and Health Science Centre units GA3 and GD4 are now over. There are currently 13 outbreaks in 10 hospitals.

New outbreaks were declared at Portage District General Hospital in Portage la Prairie, and Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca