Manitoba announced 312 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, along with six more related deaths — the most it’s ever reported in a single day.
That brings the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the province to 75.
The province’s current five-day test positivity rate — a rolling average of the number of COVID-19 tests that come back positive — is 8.9 per cent. That’s a new high for the province, and the fourth consecutive day that Manitoba has set a record for test positivity.
Of the six deaths reported Sunday and two additional ones announced late Saturday, four are connected to an outbreak at Maples Long Term Care home, including two women in their 80s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 90s, according to a provincial news release.
There are two deaths — a man in his 70s and another in his 80s — linked to an outbreak at St. Boniface Hospital.
A man in his 50s from the Steinbach district in the Southern Health region also died.
There is no information about the man in his 60s from Winnipeg whose death was reported Saturday.
The Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre announced the death of a resident related to COVID-19 in a statement posted on its website Saturday. (Travis Golby/CBC)
Meanwhile, the Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre, a Jewish care home, announced another death in a statement posted on its website Saturday.
“Our hearts are heavy and our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of our resident,” the statement reads in part.
No details were released about the latest death at the home.
It’s currently not known if the death is one of four announced by the Manitoba government on Saturday.
In addition, the union that represents poultry workers at a plant in Blumenort, Man. announced the death of one of its members.
As of Sunday, at least 75 Manitobans with COVID-19 have died. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
The Exceldor Co-operative worker had previously contracted COVID-19 and went home to self-isolate. It’s not known when this person died, or in which health region.
As of Friday, there are 52 positive cases, including 35 active. Two people have died.
“We want to offer our sincerest condolences to family, friends and fellow union-members working at Exceldor. When someone loses a family member or a close friend, it’s a stark reminder about how devastating this virus can be,” said Jeff Traeger, the president of UFCW Local 832.
238 cases in Winnipeg
Of the new cases, 238 are in the Winnipeg health region, 26 are in the Southern Health Region, 25 are in the Interlake-Eastern health region, 16 are in the Northern health region and seven are in the Prairie Mountain Health region.
There are 3,255 active cases, and 2,704 people have recovered.
On Saturday, 3,697 tests were completed — the most tests recorded for a single day.
The current five-day test positivity rate in Winnipeg is 9.9 per cent, one percentage point higher than the provincial rate. But the province cautioned that number may be less reliable due to the smaller sample size.
The province says there is still capacity in Manitoba’s intensive care units, as it reported 120 people in hospital, including 18 in intensive care on Sunday. That is the highest number of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Officials are working to introduce more ICU and surgical capacity if needed, according to the release.
Manitoba’s test positivity rate reached 8.9 per cent on Sunday, the province said, while Winnipeg’s reached 9.9 per cent. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
The province reported a new outbreak on Sunday at the Women’s Correctional Centre in Headingley.
Meanwhile, someone in a Grade 9 class at Elmwood High School tested positive for COVID-19, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a letter to parents and guardians on Sunday.
The person was at the school on Oct. 28 and 29 in the 3, 6 AM and 1, 4 PM cohort, the letter said, and while the risk to the overall school community is low, close contacts of the person are being contacted and told to self-isolate.
More possible exposures
Health officials reported more possible COVID-19 exposures around the province, including a number of schools:
Brandon
Oct. 20-21, Oct. 24: Brandon Boxing Club (1417 Rosser Ave.)
Oct. 23: Millers Pharmacy (624-18th St.)
Shilo
Alexander
Winnipeg
Oct. 13-23: Winnipeg Adult Education Centre (310 Vaughn St.)
Many businesses and facilities will close, including bars and restaurant dining rooms, movie theatres and concert halls. Most retail outlets will be reduced to 25 per cent capacity.
The rest of the province will be at the orange, or restricted, level as of Monday.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
