The Province of Manitoba says they will be launching a mobile COVID-19 collection unit in Winnipeg as early as Monday.

On Monday, 1,205 tests were completed on Monday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February to 167,203. To increase testing capacity, Dynacare is being contracted to open and operate several COVID-19 specimen collection sites across Manitoba.

Last week during a COVID-19 update, Dr. Brent Roussin said the province was looking into increasing testing accessibility, especially as the repository virus season draws closer and the weather gets colder.    

"Initially, it will provide an additional 1,400 tests a day, with the ability to increase to 2,600 more," the province says in a statement.

The company will open a mobile testing unit in Winnipeg as soon as Monday. Drive-thru testing sites in Winnipeg, Brandon, Winkler, Portage and Dauphin will open in the upcoming weeks.

As of Tuesday morning, the five-day positive test rate is 1.8 per cent. There are 24 new cases of COVID-19, with 20 of those in Winnipeg, two in the Interlake–Eastern health region, and two cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud region.

There are now 1,234 recoveries and 380 active cases of the virus. There are eight people in the hospital and two of those people are in intensive care. The number of deaths remains at 18.

At Collège Louis-Riel, Public Health officials share there was a confirmed case of the virus in the school on Monday, September 14. 

"The school is working closely with public health officials and following their recommendations. Upon learning of this information, the school facility immediately closed off areas used by the infected person and did not use these areas until after cleaning and disinfection occurred," the province says in a statement. 

They say close contacts of the person have been identified and are self-isolating. Collège Louis-Riel remains open as the province says the exposure is low risk. The virus was not obtained at school.

At John Pritchard School, 20 cases have been confirmed to have been linked to the school's cluster.

In Steinbach at Maplewood Manor, two-previously identified cases are linked to the assisted living facility. The Southern Health Region facility has been moved to  Critical (red) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System out of an abundance of caution. The province says the facility had put additional measures in place to further reduce the risk to residents and staff, and are restricting visitation

In Winnipeg, there is one location and two transit busses that have been added to a list of locations where there were possible exposures to COVID-19:
•    the lounge at The Keg Steakhouse and Bar, 115 Garry St. in Winnipeg on Sept. 15 from 6 to 11:45 p.m. and Sept. 16 from 3:45 to 8:30 p.m.;
•    Winnipeg Transit, route #47 on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 from Mayfair Avenue and Queen Elizabeth Way at approximately 11:32 a.m. to Kildaire Avenue West and Kooteney Crescent at 12:10 p.m.; and
•    Winnipeg Transit, route #47 on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 from Plessis Road and Rosseau Avenue at approximately 9:45 p.m. to Mayfair Avenue and Queen Elizabeth Way at 10:20 p.m.


Dr. Brent Roussin is strongly encouraging residents and visitors to Winnipeg to focus on these fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
•    People must stay home if sick.
•    Wash/sanitize your hands, cover your cough and physically distance when you are with people outside your household.
•    If you cannot physically distance, you should wear a mask to help reduce your risk.
•    Reduce the number of close contacts outside your household and avoid closed-in or crowded spaces.