WINNIPEG -- Provincial health officials announced on Tuesday that there are no new cases of COVID-19 in the province.
This keeps the province's total number of cases at 272.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial health officer, said seven people are in hospital, two of whom are in intensive care.
There are currently 57 active cases and 209 people have recovered.
The death toll due to COVID-19 remains at six.
Roussin said 321 tests were performed at Cadham Provincial Laboratory on Monday, bringing the total to 23,857 tests since early February.
As the province announced new testing criteria on Tuesday, health officials are still reminding Manitobans to phone Health Links at 204-788-8200 or (toll-free) at 1-888-315-9257 to get a referral before being tested.
Roussin said they are wanting people to have two symptoms before they get tested, but he added that any clinician can offer the test even with one symptom if they feel it is necessary.
He also noted that having expanded testing is important to ensure the economy can start up again in the province.
"We have to be able to have the capacity to test more as we loosen our public health restrictions. We need to be prepared for more circulation of the virus," said Roussin. "So we need to be able to ensure our testing capacity is wide so that we can still actively find cases to aggressive contact tracing."
He added that he feels the province is in a good spot for testing capacity.
ISOLATION CENTRES AND SHELTERS IN MANITOBA
Lanette Siragusa, the chief nursing officer for Shared Health, provided an update on how isolation centres have been working in the province.
Isolation centres are designated for health care workers, people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or those who are a known contact of someone who has tested positive. They are considered a safe space for those people, but they must be referred to the program through Public Health or Occupational Health.
Siragusa said there is one centre open at a hotel. So far 32 people have been referred to it. She said of those 32 people, 21 have met the criteria and eight people have accepted the offer.
"A lot of work went on to develop the cleaning protocols, working with the hotel staff, making sure Public Health was able to connect with those people still on a daily basis even though the location of their residence has changed for up to 14-days," said Siragusa.
She said more work is being done to support this process throughout the province so people in rural or northern Manitoba can have this option as well and won't have to come to Winnipeg to isolate safely.
Siragusa also noted a shelter space has been created for the homeless or those who can't be at home due to safety concerns.
She said it was created in partnership with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Main Street Project, the Salvation Army and Manitoba Housing. The shelter received 22 referrals last week and currently 11 people are living there.
