Three Red Cross nurses extend stay in Manitoba to help with COVID outbreaks

Manitoba continues to receive support from the federal government in managing COVID-19 outbreaks in the province.

In a tweet Tuesday, federal emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair said the province had requested assistance, and that Canadian Red Cross personnel have been deployed to help Manitoba deal with the pandemic.

According to a spokesperson from the province, that help comes in the form of three Red Cross nurses currently working out of Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, who will continue to do so until mid-March.

“This is simply a request for continued support of human health resources (nurses) to augment Manitoba’s COVID-19 response,” the spokesperson said.

“While Manitoba’s COVID-19 case counts and hospitalization numbers continue to trend downwards, Manitoba’s ICU and acute care centres continue to be a few weeks behind those trends.

“We appreciate the assistance from the federal government as we continue to add capacity in our health system to ensure Manitobans get the care they need, for COVID and other medical matters.”

Red Cross spokesperson Jason Small said this is a continuation of support for Manitoba that began in late December.

“We have had up to eight nurses working in support of the response,” he said.

“At the moment, we have the three who have been extended for an additional two weeks. The extension comes at the request of the provincial and federal governments.”

3:48 Manitoba Nurses Union on COVID-19 cases