Manitoba pilots asymptomatic rapid COVID-19 testing for staff at 3 care homes
Staff at Winnipeg s Donwood Manor and Deer Lodge Centre, and at Country Meadows Personal Care Home in Neepawa, will have voluntary access to the rapid tests starting Monday, the province says.
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CBC News ·
Posted: Dec 17, 2020 6:03 PM CT | Last Updated: December 18, 2020
An Abbott Laboratories Panbio COVID- 19 rapid test device is displayed at a pop-up COVID-19 testing site in this Halifax file photo from November. Abbott Panbio COVID-19 rapid antigen tests will be used for asymptomatic testing in three Manitoba personal care homes starting Monday.(The Canadian Press)
Manitoba will roll out rapid testing for asymptomatic staff at three personal care homes, as part of a pilot program to broaden surveillance testing for COVID-19.
Winnipeg Free Press
Last Modified: 5:54 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 | Updates
Winnipeg Free Press
Health Minister Cameron Friesen said a pilot project will start Dec. 21 at three long-term care facilities. (This) will expand the asymptomatic testing that is already underway in personal care homes by testing staff who do not have any symptoms, and is the first step in plans for an expansion of this work to other sites in the weeks ahead, Friesen said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
The first three homes to benefit from enhanced screening are Donwood Manor and Deer Lodge Centre in Winnipeg and Country Meadows in Neepawa. The pilot will run for four weeks.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The opening to tonight s briefing is strictly promotional in nature as it comes with a personal invite/nudge to join our virtual townhall on Thursday at 11 a.m. CST.
We ve assembled a panel of experts to discuss Manitoba s pandemic experience and to take questions from our readers. With the extension of the Code Red restrictions just announced along with today s news of the imminent arrival of the vaccine in Manitoba, I can t think of a better time for us to look at what went wrong in our province with COVID-19 and how we can make it right.
At one level, Thursday s discussion is a natural extension of the conversations I ve had with many of you over the past months based on what you ve read in this newsletter. I m looking forward to hosting that conversation and then sharing with you some takeaways in Thursday s edition of this newsletter.