Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, that the criteria for COVID-19 testing in the province have expanded to include all Manitobans.
Effective immediately, the province is expanding testing criteria to any Manitoban with symptoms of COVID-19, even mild symptoms including a cough, runny nose, sore throat and/or fever, to be tested to better determine the spread of the virus in Manitoba, the premier noted.
“Through good planning, Manitoba has been able to get ahead of COVID-19 and flatten the curve,” said Pallister. “We want to stay ahead of this virus and not chase it. With increased levels of tracking, testing and isolation, we will have a better understanding of how we are doing as a province in flattening the COVID curve. This is crucial as we carefully and slowly work toward expanding services safely in the coming weeks and months.”
Pallister said that in order to increase the volume of testing an agreement with Dynacare has been reached that will see them significantly increase COVID-19 testing alongside Cadham Provincial Laboratory.
By the end of summer, the new capacity for testing is expected to reach 3,000 tests per day which triple the current testing capacity in the province.
Dynacare will be establishing a second COVID-19 testing lab in Winnipeg in order to reduce the time needed to process tests.
Manitobans suffering from COVID-19 symptoms should contact Health Links at 204-788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257.
© News4.ca 2020
