Manitobans seek clear direction from provincial officials as concerns related to COVID-19 rise

David Lesey was set to host a Christmas Day celebration with members of his family only to begin isolating himself a few days before the holiday.

He is among countless Manitobans who were unable to celebrate Christmas or ring in the new year due to isolation requirements, or chose not to gather with friends and family due to non-COVID-19 health concerns.

Frustration with how the provincial government has dealt with lengthy waits at COVID-19 testing sites, delays in receiving those results and a lack of supports for immunosuppressed individuals is mounting.

Lesey locked himself up in his home starting Dec. 21 after developing symptoms — a dry cough, runny nose, sore throat — consistent with COVID-19.

Two days later, the 60-year-old, who is double vaccinated, went to Winnipeg's Nairn Avenue testing site. He waited five hours, but once he was finally permitted to enter the testing area, Lesey appreciated watching the meticulous cleaning process that ensued.

"It's pretty detailed in how they would clean everything for each person and changing out the trays and sanitizing," he said. "It was a time-consuming process, and I actually appreciated the fact that they went to all that trouble to make sure that those that are getting tested aren't getting cross-contaminated during the testing."

Lesey understood testing was in high demand and was OK with waiting an estimated four days to receive his result — even though the Christmas presents under his tree blankly stared back at him.

But after receiving no result and calling to escalate his case three times between Dec. 27 and Thursday, and waiting on hold for more than 10 hours combined, Lesey was still in the same position.

The last call he waited 4.5 hours "to find out they don't escalate anymore because of the volume." 

Lesey received his test result — which was negative — the morning of New Year's Eve. He does not believe he's the only one in a similar wait-and-see holding pattern even after the province moved to a five-day isolation requirement for fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 the same day Lesey received his result.

"I don't see how I could be an isolated case," he said.

In Thursday's technical briefing, Central Services Minister Reg Helwer, who has since been named Infrastrucuture Minister, said the province is still working to create more testing capacity, but provided few details about what that might look like.

Elizabeth Levesque doesn't believe she's alone either.

The retired human resources management staffer has lymphoma, and as a result of the chemotherapy she has received is immunosuppressed.