As long lines at testing sites and days-long waits for results continue to plague Manitoba’s COVID-19 testing efforts, the private lab company tasked with helping to relieve some of the pressure is revealing details about its plans for more testing sites.
This week, the province announced it has contracted Dynacare to open and operate several new testing sites across the province. The initial plans would see testing capacity increased by 1,400 tests a day with the ability to eventually increase to 2,600 more, the province said.
Dynacare’s Winnipeg-based chief scientific officer, Dr. Jenisa Naidoo said Wednesday the company — which has already been processing tests alongside the Cadham Provincial Laboratory — eventually aims to be able to report test results in a 24-hour timeframe.
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However, she said there’s a backlog of testing they’ll have to get through first.
1:28 Manitoba still working on getting COVID-19 contact tracing app
Manitoba still working on getting COVID-19 contact tracing app
“There’s been a higher demand — the volumes of tests have gone up significantly in the last few weeks or the last month,” Naidoo told 680 CJOB.
Currently, Naidoo said the company is getting results out within 24 and 48 hours.
But she hopes that will change as the new sites open, including two in Winnipeg and one in Brandon, which go into operation in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, the province said Dynacare may also have a mobile site open in Winnipeg as early as Sept. 28.
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The mobile site — essentially a clinic on wheels — will be able to quickly head to areas of need or hotspots around the province, Naidoo explained.
1:08 COVID-19 testing lines
COVID-19 testing lines
Further sites — including both walk-ins and drive-thru locations — in Winnipeg and others in Winkler, Portage la Prairie, and Dauphin are also planned, she added.
Naidoo couldn’t yet say where exactly the new sites will be located, but she stressed Dynacare’s COVID-19 testing will not be done at the company’s current lab facilities in Winnipeg.
She said Dynacare plans to have many of the new testing sites open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The hours of operation will vary from region to region, but in Winnipeg we’re hoping to actually have longer hours and extended hours at these COVID assessment centres,” she said.
Naidoo said each of Dynacare’s COVID-19 testing sites will be able to give an estimated wait time for those who come in for testing, and the company plans to update their website with expected wait times for each site as well.
Winnipeg testing sites hit capacity
Over the last week, some of Winnipeg’s testing sites have reached capacity by mid-afternoon, forcing staff to turn away those still waiting in line for testing.
That’s led to grumbling on social media about both the long lines at sites and the long wait for results after being told by health officials to socially isolate until getting news of a negative test.
There’s also reports of long wait times for callers to Health Links, as calls come in from those with questions about COVID-19 and other issues, and others anxious to get their test results.
A spokesperson from Shared Health said Wednesday Health Links is seeing higher than normal call volumes. It’s something that’s “being monitored closely with consideration being given to how current wait times may be addressed,” they said in an emailed statement.
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As for test result wait times Shared Health said the average timeline from a sample being taken to the result being available is currently two to three days, although some additional time may be added for transportation, depending on where the test is taken.
“Test result turnaround times across the province have remained stable even with the increased volume,” a provincial spokesperson said.
1:32 COVID-19 testing sites swamped
COVID-19 testing sites swamped
“Positive COVID-19 test results are communicated immediately by public health and the process of rigorous contact tracing begins at that point.”
Negative test results are made available for Manitobans with a Manitoba Health card online, and the spokesperson said only those who are not able to access the results after five business days, or those without Manitoba Health cards should call Health Links for the results.
Meanwhile Shared Health says while no Manitobans are necessarily being prioritized for faster testing, samples from health-care workers are being marked “in order to minimize their turnaround at the lab wherever possible.”
The spokesperson said samples from transport workers, educators, and child care providers are also being identified at testing sites, but only “for the purposes of tracking the presence of COVID-19 in Manitoba.”
Provincial data shows 1,703 tests for COVID-19 were completed Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February to 170,045.
1:27 Are young people taking COVID-19 seriously?
Are young people taking COVID-19 seriously?
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
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To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
