The Selkirk COVID-19 testing site will move to the former hospital at 100 Easton Drive where the emergency department was located on Nov. 25. Making an appointment will be encouraged, but walk-ins are still available.
The new site will replace the drive-thru testing site located at 622 Superior Avenue, which will end service on Nov. 24.
The change in location takes impending winter conditions into consideration and will provide a more comfortable and safer space for both staff and the public, as the old site saw cars lining up on a busy road. Moving to an appointment-based system will help to reduce wait times, and the new site has ample parking for everyone. It also holds the potential to accommodate a higher number of tests completed each day, should the need increase.
Dr. Tim Hilderman, medical officer of health for Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority stressed the importance of people in the region coming for testing as soon as they show COVID-19 symptoms.
“Our new testing site will have all the proper cleaning and distancing measures in place to help prevent transmission of infection. The sooner we can find out when someone has COVID-19, the better our chances of slowing the spread of illness,” said Hilderman. “But right now, we hope everyone follows public health orders to limit contacts as much as possible, so we can reduce the number of people experiencing illness.”
Since the beginning of September, the testing site in Selkirk has completed an average of 144 tests each day. On busier days, more than 200 were completed.
Starting Tuesday, anyone can make an appointment for a COVID-19 test at 100 Easton Drive by visiting www.is.gd/MBtesting or calling 1-855-268-4318.
For test results, the process remains the same. Visit www.sharedhealthmb.ca/covid19/test-results or call the Public Health COVID-19 Contact Centre at 1-844-960-1984 with your Manitoba Health Registration Card on hand. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are contacted directly by Public Health.
Public health officials are currently advising that if anyone is symptomatic, or has a household member who is symptomatic, the entire household needs to self-isolate pending COVID-19 test results. For information on self-isolation, visit https://manitoba.ca/covid19/fundamentals/self-isolation.html.
