There were four new cases of COVID-19 detected in Manitoba May 1, according to provincial officials.聽
None of those cases were located in the Northern Health Region (NHR). Only three cases have been detected in the NHR since the outbreak began. Fifteen people have been declared recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours.
An increase in the number of people eligible to be tested meant nearly 700 people were tested April 30. More than 25,000 Mantiobans have been tested.
The province will be relaxing some aspects of existing public health orders May 4, allowing some retail businesses to operate at reduced capacity. Travel to northern Manitoba is still restricted.
Provincial chief provincial health officer Dr. Brent Roussin warned against taking the loose restrictions as permission to mean a return to normal. He said Manitoba is still in the early stages of the fight against COVID-19.
鈥淭hese heavy restrictions also have huge impacts on health, so we need to find a way to balance the need to protect those most susceptible鈥� with the other types of health factors that these restrictions have been affecting,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e are gradually reopening things, but we want Manitobans to remain cautious.鈥�
The number of active cases declined in Manitoba over the past day settling at 38.
Roussin said Manitoba鈥檚 testing capacity has risen beyond demand, but with so few positive cases, there is not currently a need to expand the number of tests.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense to do thousands upon thousands of tests when you鈥檙e getting a 0.5 per cent of those tests coming back positive,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the positive test rate that鈥檚 important. If we鈥檙e getting these type of numbers with that rate, I鈥檓 happy with those. What鈥檚 more important is we鈥檝e opened up the criteria.
Any person with COVID-19 symptoms can now get tested for the virus in Manitoba.
鈥淭o date we have not had significant community based transmission, or outbreaks in personal care homes,鈥� Roussin said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to implement a number of ways to protect those most susceptible to the most severe outcomes of this virus.鈥�
With the loosening of the public health orders, Roussin said enforcement will play a bigger role.
鈥淢ost of [the enforcement] revolves around education and assistance, but the ability to enforce is there,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e have a number of health inspectors already on board. Certainly nothing鈥檚 off the table in terms of expanding things, but right now we鈥檙e in a good place when it comes to being able to enforce things.鈥�
Any Manitoban with COVID-19 symptoms is encouraged to call Health Links-Info Sant茅 (204) 788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257.
