Data provided by the WRHA shows only two nursing homes were fitted with the new N95s on Sept. 29 a point when COVID-19 case counts had been steadily rising across the province and outbreaks had been declared at four personal care homes in Winnipeg.
By October, the fit-testing devices had been loaned to another 16 of Winnipeg s 38 nursing homes for testing staff.
A spokesperson for the WRHA said the authority originally created a schedule for the devices for September to December, but had to change it to prioritize homes as more outbreaks were declared.
Some homes have testing machines
Some personal care homes have their own fit-testing resources, including homes owned by Revera one of Canada s largest care home operators, and the company that manages Parkview Place and Maples Long Term Care Home, the sites of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Manitoba to date.
Posted: Dec 18, 2020 3:04 PM CT | Last Updated: December 18, 2020
A home on the Shamattawa First Nation, where COVID-19 rates are extremely high.(Tyson Koschik/CBC)
First Nations people in Manitoba who need to self-isolate are being encouraged to leave their reserves to quarantine in alternative isolation facilities, including hotels.
Nearly half of the patients who are fighting COVID-19 in Manitoba intensive care units are First Nations people, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said in a Friday afternoon live update on their Facebook page.
Overcrowded homes on First Nations are causing infection rates to climb, said Dr. Marcia Anderson, a member of Manitoba s First Nations pandemic response team.
The regions with the highest amount of growth were the Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake and the Island Lake district. In the Bunibonibee district, 23 more active cases were reported Thursday, bringing the district up to 102 active cases. Island Lake - where most cases are tied to the community of Red Sucker Lake - now has 193 active cases and counting, reporting 20 new cases and a net increase of 14 cases. The district with the most cases continues to be the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district, where cases are staying in the mid-200s. The district now has 256 active cases, most of which are centred around Shamattawa First Nation. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces, including medical staff, have been working in the community.
The Spencers not their real name, to protect their children’s privacy decided they would not take additional risks when the school year began Sept. 8, knowing their circle would grow to an unknown extent. They swapped visits with grandparents, dinner parties and extracurricular activities for their children’s education and well-being in public school. “Our bubble is our kids’ school, that’s where all the contact happens,” the father said during a phone call on recently, while experiencing extreme fatigue in quarantine with his family. The Spencers are convinced their oldest child brought home the virus from school. Earlier this month, the Spencers received a school exposure letter that identified a positive case in their oldest child’s class. That same day, the parents started to experience symptoms. The father had flu-like signs, including a slight fever and headache; his partner lost her ability to smell.
The Spencers work from home, only leave for essential errands, and in the spring, shrank their family of four s bubble.
The Spencers work from home, only leave for essential errands, and in the spring, shrank their family of four s bubble.
They ve done everything right and followed all the provincially mandated rules but they still contracted COVID-19.
The Spencers not their real name, to protect their children’s privacy decided they would not take additional risks when the school year began on Sept. 8, knowing their circle would grow to an unknown extent.
They swapped visits with grandparents, dinner parties and extracurricular activities for their children’s education and well-being in public school.