Manitoba is reporting 21 new COVID-19 cases as of Monday, including another case at a Winnipeg school.
Health Minister Cameron Friesen and Manitoba’s chief public officer of health, Dr. Brent Roussin announced the latest cases and warned of a possible exposure at Beaverlodge School at a Monday press conference.
The new cases bring the total number of lab-confirmed cases reported in the province to 1,449. There were 257 active cases reported as of Monday and 16 people have died from the virus since March.
According to provincial data 12 people are in hospital with COVID-19, including three who are in intensive care.
Roussin said the case at Beaverlodge School at 6691 Rannock Ave. saw an asymptomatic individual attend the site in both the morning and afternoon on Sept. 10. He said the individual followed all public health measures in place at the school and didn’t acquire the virus at the school.
The school community and cohort have been notified, Roussin said, and additional cleaning of high-touch areas is being undertaken.
Any close contacts connected to the case have been advised to self-isolate, and Roussin said the school is not being elevated on the province’s four-tier pandemic response system because of the limited number of contacts identified.
Health officials announced 35 new cases over the weekend.
[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]
The new cases Monday include one from the Interlake-Eastern health region, three in the Southern Health region, and 17 in Winnipeg.
The province has also warned about possible COVID-19 exposures at several other schools after the first week back to class across the province.
Possible exposures have been reported by the province at Churchill High School, Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute and John Pritchard School in Winnipeg, as well as Ecole New Era School in Brandon.
The province has said none of the cases at the schools appears to have been acquired within the schools, and the risk is deemed low in each case because physical distancing was maintained and the cases were all wearing masks.
Students returned to school across Manitoba starting Sept. 8.
Meanwhile, three people have tested positive for COVID-19 in two neighbouring Interlake Indigenous communities — the first cases in Manitoba First Nations since the beginning of the pandemic.
A probable positive COVID-19 case was detected on Fisher River Cree Nation, while in nearby Peguis First Nation two probable COVID-19 cases were identified Friday.
Previously, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said that all First Nations cases in the province were off-reserve.
Both communities say the positive tests have been forwarded to the provincial public health laboratory for confirmation.
–More to come.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
