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Personal care home staff with no symptoms of COVID-19 could soon get testing anyway following the success of a recent pilot project.
Personal care home staff with no symptoms of COVID-19 could soon get testing anyway following the success of a recent pilot project.
The pilot project rapid testing for the novel coronavirus was completed over four weeks starting in mid-December at three personal care homes. It will now be offered to other facilities in the province. So far almost 40 care homes have taken up the offer. The fast identification of a positive test result enables the quickest possible action for the facility and the province, said Health and Seniors Care Minister Heather Stefanson in a statement on Monday.
WINNIPEG A trio of personal care homes in Manitoba are getting an added layer of protection in the fight against COVID-19. Three sites, including Winnipeg’s Deer Lodge Centre, are being sent Abbott Panbio COVID-19 antigen tests. “It’s a rapid test that we get the results back in 20 minutes,” said Kevin Scott, chief operating officer at Deer Lodge Centre. “It’s really that extra measure for us to be able to keep our patients and residents safe.” The goal is to stop COVID from unknowingly infiltrating these highly vulnerable places and infecting the people who call them home.
Province reports 221 new COVID-19 cases By: Drew May
Dec 14h,. 2020
Manitoba announced 221 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday along with 14 deaths, according to public health officials.
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Manitoba announced 221 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday along with 14 deaths, according to public health officials.
A total of 11 new cases were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, but no new deaths.
Work to get the vaccine delivered to communities outside Winnipeg is ongoing, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said in a Thursday teleconference. The province is so far working with very small quantities of vaccine and tight restrictions on those doses.
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.
COVID-19 asymptomatic surveillance testing introduced in three personal care homes
Corwyn Friesen, mySteinbach Abbott ID NOW testing unit.
Public health officials are introducing rapid testing for asymptomatic personal care home staff working in three licensed personal care homes across the province as part of a pilot project around testing in long-term care facilities.
“Protecting the health of our most vulnerable Manitobans is a top priority. Since the spring, we have introduced many precautions to screen staff and residents within our personal care homes, and to isolate and test anyone who shows symptoms or might have been exposed to COVID-19,” said Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen. “This pilot project 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.”