Pandemic Q&A: cottage season is approaching

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/04/2020 (2157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Editor’s Note: Longtime readers of the Winnipeg Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers’ questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Alan Small will attempt to answer your novel coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca.

QUESTION: Must people who visit their cabin at Lake of the Woods or anywhere in the Kenora, Ont., area quarantine for 14 days after returning to Manitoba? What if they visit cottages in Manitoba? Also, should people visit their cottages at all, even if they self-isolate and follow social-distancing recommendations?

ANSWER: The province has issued a public health order requiring anyone coming to Manitoba from outside the province to self-isolate for 14 days. The order exempts Manitoba residents who regularly travel outside Manitoba to areas that are close to the border to work, access health services or for other essential purposes. Those purposes include accessing property or businesses.

Public health officials advise Manitobans — including those who have a cottage or second residence — to stay home as much as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

If people must travel, they are encouraged to: only travel with family members; not visit with others upon arrival; avoid stopping for gas or other supplies on the way; and only visit local health-care providers if there is an emergency.

QUESTION: There are plans to expand Manitoba’s COVID-19 testing program. Will the program be open to any Manitoban or is there a priority list?

ANSWER: Testing criteria will continue to expand and change as Manitoba develops testing capacity and identifies populations at risk, says the province’s health department. Current criteria can be found on the province’s website (www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/locations.html).

QUESTION: How long should those who have tested negative for the coronavirus self-isolate?

ANSWER: Provincial health officials say if someone has had a possible or known exposure to COVID-19 — which includes travel outside Manitoba in the last 14 days or contact with someone who has tested positive — that person is required to self-isolate for the full 14 days from the exposure date, even if a COVID-19 test result is negative.

QUESTION: How long does it take to recover from COVID-19?

ANSWER: The amount of time varies, depending on the severity of the symptoms, say provincial health officials. There are no specific treatments for COVID-19. Most people with COVID-19 will recover on their own. However, some may require medical treatment. The recovery period for those patients depends on how sick a patient gets and what treatment doctors prescribe for COVID-19 symptoms.

People who develop COVID-19 need to isolate for a minimum of 14 days, and that period may be longer if they continue to have symptoms.

QUESTION: If someone contracts COVID-19 and recovers, do they become immune to the virus?

ANSWER: Provincial health officials — and infectious disease experts around the world — are uncertain about whether immunity can be gained in this manner. In the meantime, officials continue to monitor and gather information about the novel coronavirus. Current evidence about other similar diseases suggests an individual with COVID-19 cannot get it again, but that is yet to be verified.

Health officials also have yet to determine how long any immunity will last.

QUESTION: Will COVID-19 become dormant once warm weather reaches Manitoba, in the same way many flu viruses do?

ANSWER: Provincial health officials need to learn more about COVID-19 because it’s such a new virus. There is no information about how the novel coronavirus will react to different kinds of weather.

coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca