Manitoba is looking at increasing COVID-19 testing by making it available at community medical clinics, the province’s health minister said Monday.
Cameron Friesen said Manitoba has expanded its testing capacity in recent weeks with new sites in Winnipeg and Brandon, but is working with Doctors Manitoba to add community doctors’ offices to the growing list of locations.
“Doctors understand how important it is for Manitobans to have timely access to COVID-19 testing and that’s why physicians are stepping up to open their clinics to add more testing capacity,” said Doctors Manitoba president Cory Baillie.
“Doctors Manitoba and the provincial government are working together to support medical clinics in offering testing, with all the necessary precautions in place.”
The province said public health staff are working with clinics to make sure testing is separate from regular doctors’ appointments, by offering it after hours or in a separate area of the clinic.
The first attempt at providing dedicated coronavirus testing in a clinic will be at Dakota Medical Centre in Winnipeg, which the province said will begin in “the coming days,” with more information to be made available soon.
“As the government continues to respond to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Winnipeg, our top priority remains protecting Manitobans,” said Friesen.
“Manitobans can have confidence that, in the coming days and weeks, we will be continuing to open new screening sites, train and deploy workforce, and strengthen our public health contact tracing efforts.”
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