The summer break from COVID-19 Manitobans were enjoying is officially over, with 38 new cases reported Monday, including one at a personal-care home in Steinbach and new daily cases in the double digits.
“We’ve seen case numbers that we haven’t seen since the beginning of the pandemic,” Dr. Brent Roussin said at a media briefing Monday.
“We’re seeing some evidence of community-based transmission. With that brings anxiety to Manitobans,” the province’s chief provincial health officer said.
After two weeks of near-daily reports of double-digit new cases, Manitoba’s ninth death was reported Saturday, a Portage la Prairie man in his 80s who was in hospital at the time. On Sunday, another 36 cases were reported.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, speaks to the media during a COVID-19 update at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Monday.
Roussin said 11 Manitobans are hospitalized with COVID-19, three of them in intensive care. One new case at Bethesda Place in Steinbach is being declared an “outbreak” because of the threat it poses to residents.
Roussin had few details to share and couldn’t say how many nursing-home staff are self-isolating. He is waiting to find out how COVID-19 got into a care home with strict controls over who can enter and where personal protective equipment is required. Steps were taken “quickly and appropriately” to prevent spread of the infection once it was discovered, he said.
“They immediately had that person in isolation, they immediately isolated wings of that personal-care home.”
More than half of Monday’s new cases — 20 — are in the Prairie Mountain health region, which includes Brandon, where there are 86 active cases. Most are connected to a cluster of 64 known cases. Public health officials warn of a possible exposure at the 7-Eleven on Victoria Street in Brandon Aug. 5-7 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
THE CARILLON / NICOLE BUFFIE
Dr. Roussin said one case of COVID-19 has been identified at Bethesda Place Personal Care Home in Steinbach and is being declared an “outbreak” because of the threat it poses to residents.
Another 12 new cases were reported in Southern health — which includes the Steinbach care home and the district of Niverville/Ritchot, which now has the most active cases in that region, with 25. They are related to a known cluster but Roussin wouldn’t provide details, including if it involves a Hutterite colony.
Just five new cases were reported in Winnipeg, where some community transmission is occurring but most positive tests are linked to known cases. One new case was reported in the Interlake-Eastern health region. With 1,716 lab tests completed Sunday, Manitoba has a five-day test positive rate of 1.78 per cent.
The resurgence of the novel coronavirus Manitobans are seeing now was expected, but not this soon, Roussin said.
“We knew that we weren’t done with this virus,” he said. “We had that nice stretch — and we’ll take it — but we knew we’re in a pandemic. Most of us in public health were definitely expecting numbers like this and possibly worse in the fall respiratory virus season.”
“We knew that we weren’t done with this virus. We had that nice stretch ‐ and we’ll take it ‐ but we knew we’re in a pandemic. Most of us in public health were definitely expecting numbers like this and possibly worse in the fall respiratory virus season.”
— Dr. Brent Roussin
Later this week, more information will be added to the daily COVID-19 information provided by the online “dashboard,” he said, adding It should help Manitobans see what our current status is and will offer “some ideas” about what could happen “in the future with our numbers.”
Roussin wouldn’t say how dire things have to get before reimposing measures or ordering new ones, such as mandating masks.
Surgeries backlog addressed
On Monday, the province announced it awarded five contracts to address the backlog in surgeries and exams postponed by COVID-19 this spring as Manitoba joined other provinces bracing for an onslaught of hospitalizations that fortunately didn’t materialize.
On Monday, the province announced it awarded five contracts to address the backlog in surgeries and exams postponed by COVID-19 this spring as Manitoba joined other provinces bracing for an onslaught of hospitalizations that fortunately didn’t materialize.
Manitoba Health said it has awarded $2.5 million in contracts echocardiogram exams, urology procedures, orthopaedic spine procedures, and foot and hand surgeries. They were awarded to five facilities: Health Sciences Centre, Pan Am Clinic, CancerCare Manitoba, Maples Surgical Centre and LifeSmart Health Cardio 1, a provincial government spokesperson said.
Both public and private providers responded to the request for service agreements. Additional contracts will be awarded as progress is monitored, a press release from Manitoba Health said. By next March, close to 4,000 surgical procedures and 4,000 imaging exams will have been rescheduled, it said.
The Manitoba Health Coalition said the province has not presented any evidence that public health care providers didn’t have the capacity to deal with the backlog. “…At a time when we need health care professionals to help catch up on delayed surgeries this decision will pull more of these professionals out of the public system and put even greater strain on our public health system as we recover from the pandemic,” the coalition’s director Brianne Goertzen said in a statement Monday.
“Experience in other jurisdictions, such as Alberta, shows that care delivered in for-profit facilities costs more, quality of care worsens, and fails to alleviate wait times. The pandemic has made it abundantly clear the importance of a responsive public health system.”
– Carol Sanders
Public health will look at factors such as the five-day test positivity rate, the number of cases that can’t be linked to clusters and are of unknown acquisition, and capacity in the health- care system, he said. The hospital system is not being overwhelmed and there are fewer people admitted with COVID-19 than when the first wave hit Manitoba in the spring.
“If you look at our hospitalization rate right now, it’s lower than what we saw earlier in the pandemic at that time,” said Roussin, who acknowledged there can be a lag between a surge in new cases and when people end up in hospital. However in the spring, 10 to 12 per cent of people testing positive for COVID-19 across Canada were hospitalized. On Monday, Manitoba had 232 active cases with 11 in hospital.
The severity of the situation in Manitoba could go either way, and Roussin reminded Manitobans they can determine it by following the fundamentals of good hand hygiene, staying home when they have even mild symptoms, keeping their distance and wearing a mask indoors and places where they may not be able to spread out. Mandating people to do things such as wearing masks may happen if people aren’t following recommendations, he warned.
“Nothing’s ever been off the table for us. If we’re ever concerned that we’re not getting the compliance we need, we can always mandate it. ”
— Dr. Brent Roussin on mandating people to wear masks
“Nothing’s ever been off the table for us,” he said. “If we’re ever concerned that we’re not getting the compliance we need, we can always mandate it. ”
Health Minister Cameron Friesen defended the province’s “ready, safe, grow” economic messaging campaign despite the resurgence of the virus and Manitobans’ health concerns.
“As Dr. Roussin has continued to say, we have to learn how to live with COVID-19,” Friesen said at the briefing Monday.
“I think that what this campaign is doing is reminding people they have to do the right things in order for Manitoba to continue to be a success story. We do want people to make that shift to get back to work, to get back to whatever normal looks like.”
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders Reporter
Carol Sanders’ reporting on newcomers to Canada has made international headlines, earned national recognition but most importantly it’s shared the local stories of the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
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.
