As Manitoba recorded its 23rd death caused by COVID-19 and announced 36 new cases of the virus Sunday, some people spent hours waiting to be tested.
By early afternoon, Winnipeggers were being turned away from some testing sites, while others faced long lineups and no guarantee they’d be tested before closing time. A new mobile testing site at 1181 Portage Ave., which opened last week, saw light traffic early after it opened Sunday morning, but it reached maximum capacity shortly after 1 p.m., and was shut down to incoming drivers nearly three hours before it was set to close for the day.
Crowd-sourced average wait times at COVID-19 testing sites
Click to Expand
As of 4 p.m. Sunday
604 St. Mary’s Road: 3 hours
1284 Main St.: 1 hour
2735 Pembina Highway: 1 hour
1181 Portage Ave: One user reported being turned away
To see crowd-sourced testing site wait times and report your own, go to https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/covid-testing-sites/
The MPI drive-thru testing site at 1284 Main St. began redirecting people around 2 p.m., as a double lane of more than a dozen vehicles snaked around the building. Staff on site didn’t answer questions about wait times, but before the drive-thru was closed to new traffic, drivers were handed a list of addresses for other testing sites, and were told they had no guarantee of being tested that afternoon if they chose to wait in line.
On Sunday, provincial public-health officials announced a man in his 50s is Manitoba’s 23rd COVID-19-related fatality. They also warned of potential exposure to the virus in Little Grand Rapids First Nation, where several people tested positive after attending the community’s recreation centre from Sept. 24 to 27. It’s the second batch of confirmed positive cases of the virus in a Manitoba First Nations community, following positive results last weekend for a family in York Factory First Nation. After 19 new cases were reported at Little Grand Rapids, that community is now in lockdown, with public gatherings prohibited and restrictions in place that correspond with the red/critical phase in the provincial government’s pandemic response system.
New confirmed cases totalled 36 on Sunday, but four previously announced cases were determined to be false positives, which brings the total number of active cases in Manitoba to 696. Most of the cases announced Sunday — 23 — are in Winnipeg. Seven are in the Southern health region; five in Interlake-Eastern, and one in Prairie Mountain health region. On Saturday, 2,103 COVID-19 tests were completed across the province.
Public-health officials also warned Sunday that passengers on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg may have been exposed to the virus on Sept. 27. They’re requiring passengers who were on flight 296 and sat in rows 27 to 31 to self-isolate for two weeks. Others who were on the flight but didn’t sit in those rows don’t need to self-isolate unless they develop symptoms, according to a provincial news release.
Meanwhile, several Winnipeg restaurants are reporting patrons may have been exposed to the virus. People should monitor for symptoms (and self-isolate and get tested if they have symptoms) after visiting Hooters Restaurant at 1501 St. Matthews Ave. on Sept. 24 from 4 to 11 p.m.; Bourbon Billiards at 241 Vaughan St. on Sept. 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Earls Polo Park at 1455 Portage Ave. on Sept. 25 from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Montana’s Polo Park at 665 Empress St. on Sept. 25 from 9 to 10 p.m.; and Crspy Bnch on 806 Sargent Ave. on Sept. 26 from 11 a.m. until noon.
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Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Katie May
Justice reporter
Katie May reports on courts, crime and justice for the Free Press.
