Public health officials revealed another double-digit increase in Manitoba’s COVID-19 numbers on Monday, announcing 38 new cases in the province, of which 20 were in the Prairie Mountain Health region.
The new cases in PMH are linked to a known cluster in Brandon, which has grown to include 64 people, said Manitoba chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin during a news conference in Winnipeg on Monday.
Fifty-six of those cases have been linked to staff members at a single place of business in the Wheat City. Although Roussin still wouldn’t name the business in question, previous news reports have identified this location as the Maple Leaf Foods pork processing plant.
However, Roussin did advise that exposure to COVID-19 may have occurred at a 7-Eleven store in Brandon, located at 3360 Victoria Ave., throughout Aug. 5-7 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Even though the risk of transmission is low, Roussin is recommending that Brandonites self-monitor and get tested if they are exhibiting symptoms after visiting this store during that stretch of time.
“These possible exposures serve as a reminder to self-isolate as soon as symptoms develop, even if they’re very mild,” he said. “Go for testing, and that means staying at home and, for the most part, avoiding others in your home as well.”
In a written statement, 7-11 Canada said store members have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days with pay. Stores across Canada have enhanced their standards and procedures for hygiene, including frequent washing and the installation of sneeze guards and floor markers. They have limited customer traffic and require staff members to wear a face covering.
» ‘It can spread quickly’: Roussin
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In a written statement, 7-11 Canada said store members have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days with pay. Stores across Canada have enhanced their standards and procedures for hygiene, including frequent washing and the installation of sneeze guards and floor markers. They have limited customer traffic and require staff members to wear a face covering.
Additionally, Heritage Co-op announced on Monday that a second case of COVID-19 has been identified at their Brandon Agro Centre.
“The second worker was already in isolation, having been identified as a close contact of the first worker who tested positive,” a representative wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “All relevant work areas have been deep cleaned, and close contacts of the worker have been informed.”
Heritage Co-op originally revealed that one of their employees at the Brandon Agro Centre contracted the virus on Aug. 10.
Monday’s update also comes on the heels of a busy weekend in terms of COVID-19 updates, where 56 new cases came to light across the province, including 12 from PMH.
On Saturday, the province revealed that a Portage la Prairie man in his 80s had succumbed to the virus, making him the ninth Manitoban to die due to COVID-19.
While Roussin said this recent spike is expected, he admitted that the sheer volume of new coronavirus cases is spreading faster than he anticipated.
“We knew we weren’t done with this virus,” he said, referencing the 13-day stretch in July when the province did have any new cases to report. “I think that most of us in public health were definitely expecting numbers like this, and possibly worse, in the fall respiratory virus season. I think we were doing our planning based on probably a more mild summer, but that’s what this virus is like: if you get a couple clusters it can spread quickly.”
Elsewhere in the province, Roussin revealed that one resident of the Bethesda Place personal care home in Steinbach tested positive for the virus, which forced public health officials to declare an outbreak in that facility out of an abundance of caution.
Overall, the provincial government is now contending with 232 active cases and a 1.78 per cent test positivity rate. Eleven people are currently hospitalized because of the virus, with three individuals being in intensive care.
As of Monday afternoon, the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases is now up to 731 in Manitoba and 202, of which 202 have been in PMH.
Testing numbers show that an additional 1,716 laboratory tests were completed on Sunday, bringing the total number of tests completed since early February to 115,963.
» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson
