Main Street business owner irked by test site lineup

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This article was published 21/07/2020 (1521 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COVID-19 testing hours at the North End MPI drive-through site were extended today after a week of record-breaking coronavirus testing numbers.

A statement from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said 586 tests were completed on Tuesday, which broke the record for most tests completed in a day in the city. The record was previously held by the day prior, when 523 tests had been completed.

Meanwhile, a business owner located next to the north Main MPI centre says the lineup of vehicles waiting for tests is blocking access to his store and creating a safety hazard.

Robert McDonald owns the Surplus Direct Clothing outlet at 1244 Main Street, just a few blocks away from the north Main Street MPI drive-thru testing site. He said he hadn’t faced any issues until Wednesday morning, where he said rather than traffic waiting southbound and right behind the MPI building, cars were instead waiting right on Main Street, bringing the line of traffic along the front half of McDonald’s building.

Parking in front of his building is usually free and available, but customers had to park on the opposite side of the street and cross six lanes of traffic Wednesday, which he said is both a safety concern and a negative impact on his business.

“The safety part of it bothers me the most, that I’ve actually seen lots of people while this was going on running back and forth from my store today to (their vehicles) on the other side,” he said.

“Not to mention that people were coming, regular customers, that just slowed down, looked, couldn’t figure out what was going on, and just drove off. So, in a way, it impacts my business.”

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority confirmed that while data was not yet available for Wednesday test numbers, Wednesday was “on pace to be just as busy” as Monday and Tuesday. In an attempt to alleviate some of the demand, the MPI drive-thru testing site extended its hours, closing at 7 p.m. rather than 4 p.m.

Traffic had not been re-routed so cars were waiting on Main Street, the spokesperson said – rather, so many people were waiting that cars spilled out onto the busy road.

“It was just a natural function of that’s where people were lining up because there were so many more vehicles than we’d been used to,” he told the Free Press Wednesday.

He said changes would be made to the alignment of traffic Thursday to deal with cars lining up on Main Street.

The spokesperson said the MPI testing site was “at capacity” by Wednesday afternoon and people were being redirected to other testing sites.

“People were welcome to stay and take their chances if they wanted to, today certainly was just as busy as yesterday,” he said.

McDonald said he was sympathetic to the situation at hand but hoped the city come up with a safe solution that kept space in front of his shop open.

“Let’s make sure it’s safe,” he said. “I don’t know what the answer is, but there has to be an answer somewhere.”

 

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_