A health-care worker tests at a drive-thru COVID-19 assessment centre at the Etobicoke General Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
WINNIPEG — The province has opened up a new 138-bed COVID-19 alternative isolation site.
The accommodation will primarily service Winnipeg’s shelter population for those who have, or are suspected of having, COVID-19.
“We know the shelter population is particularly vulnerable to the contracting and spread of COVID-19,” said Sharon Kuropatwa, director of housing, supports and service integration, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
“These isolation spaces provide individuals with a safe space to isolate while they await test results or to recover if they have tested positive, with enhanced access to clinical and social supports if they need them.”
The new 138-room Alternative Isolation Accommodation (AIA) site will open in stages beginning this weekend, adding to four other spaces already open in Winnipeg. In addition to a safe space to isolate, participants in the AIA program receive daily health and wellness checks. Online consultations with primary-care providers and specialists, as well as occasional on-site visits from paramedics, are also available as needed.
The new isolation site is not being identified in order to protect the privacy of those staying there. Up to 16 people per day from Winnipeg’s shelter population are referred to AIA sites.
There are now 14 AIA sites across the province, including nine locations throughout northern Manitoba. Plans are also in the works to open new hotel locations in Brandon as early as December.
