Top doc urges caution as relaxed restrictions mulled

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This article was published 22/03/2021 (1810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba health officials will reveal their plan to lift code red on Tuesday with the province’s top doctor asking people to follow the fundamentals in the meantime as significant restrictions remain in place for the foreseeable future.

“We do continue to need to be cautious with our case numbers slowly trending up, with the variants of concern becoming more and more an issue,” chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said on Monday.

“We do have that optimism that we see the vaccines beginning to roll out, but we’re still many, many weeks, to months, away from having enough of the population protected for us to really significantly reduce our public health measures.”

Roussin said the province will share details about the latest round of public health orders on Tuesday. The current orders expire on March 26.

Last week, Roussin and Premier Brian Pallister proposed reducing restrictions to allow flexibility when dining-in at restaurants, indoor organized sports to resume, casinos and movie theatres to open and modifications to provincial travel requirements.

“We have to be really cautious. Any openings have to continue to be done in a cautious way,” Roussin said. “Any openings still have to be accompanied by Manitobans continuing to follow the fundamentals.

“We have to keep our interactions down outside of our households or we are going to see a third wave.”

On Monday, the province reported 66 new COVID-19 infections and a provincewide five-day test positivity rate of 5.2 per cent. The World Health Organization advises the test positivity rate should be below five per cent for a period of 14 days before restrictions are eased further.

In Winnipeg, 45 new infections were reported and the five-day test positivity rate was 3.7 per cent. Seventeen cases were also reported in the Northern health region and four cases were found in Southern Health. None were identified in Interlake-Eastern or Prairie Mountain.

Demand on the health-care system increased slightly Monday with a total of 138 hospitalizations related to COVID-19, including 25 patients in intensive care. Sixty-two patients were considered infectious, an increase of five from the 57 people in hospital with active infections on Sunday.

A single death due to COVID-19 was reported on Monday — a Winnipeg man in his 50s — but occurred in December, Roussin said.

On Sunday, four deaths dating back as far as November were also added to the pandemic death toll as acute care providers caught up with reporting to public health, Roussin explained. Public health learned of the deaths last week, he said, and two were connected to outbreaks at Maples Long Term Care Home and Misericordia Health Centre.

Meanwhile, an additional COVID-19 case has been caused by the mutated B.1.1.7 variant of concern, the National Microbiology Lab has confirmed.

Roussin said the case was reported in the Prairie Mountain region and the person has already recovered.

The total number of cases caused by a variant of concern in Manitoba is 77.

Four more Winnipeg area schools were also notified this week that a person infected with the more infectious variant had been on campus, Roussin said.

“The affected cases are all isolating and classes and other close contacts are currently quarantining,” Roussin said.

Manitoba only reports cases involving a variant of concern after receiving confirmation from the National Microbiology Lab, which can take up to 10 days from the time a positive COVID-19 sample is collected at a testing site.

As of Monday, all staff working in schools with students, and licensed child care staff (including home based facilities) can access rapid asymptomatic COVID-19 testing at the test site at 1066 Nairn Avenue in Winnipeg.

Roussin said the rapid test, which can return a result in 24 hours or less, is available to any school and child care staff whether or not they have symptoms of COVID-19.

Asked whether the province would increase the availability of rapid testing as public health measures continue to be rolled back, Roussin said plans are in development, but did not provide specifics.

Currently, the province offers asymptomatic antigen testing to staff who work at approximately 40 personal care homes on a weekly basis. The test produces a result in 20 minutes. Rapid tests are also available at some hospitals for staff who have symptoms.

“We are continually working on ways to increase access to testing and different formats,” Roussin said. “We are looking at trying to expand that because really the goal is to try to continue to reopen things despite this virus and try to find ways to limit the spread. And so rapid testing is just yet another tool that we’re going to try to utilize for that.”

On Monday, the province said the outbreak at St. Boniface Hospital unit E5 has ended.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca