A ninth Manitoban has died of COVID-19 and 20 new cases were announced by provincial health officials on Saturday.
The 80-year-old man, from the Portage la Prairie health district, is a previously reported case connected to a known cluster and he had been in intensive care prior to his death.
The province also announced 20 new cases of COVID-19 detected as of 9:30 a.m. on Saturday: 11 in Winnipeg, six in the Southern Health Region and three in the Prairie Mountain Region. Several of the new cases in Winnipeg appear to be linked to travel or close contact of a known case, the province said in a news release.
Manitoba now has 663 lab-confirmed positive and probable positive COVID-19 cases. The province has 211 active cases, nine current hospitalizations and three people in intensive care, while 443 people have recovered from the coronavirus.
“We’ve seen this growth in cases. We know that many of them are linked to other cases or to clusters, but we are seeing some evidence of community-based transmission at this point,” Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said during Friday’s media briefing. “But again, we know what we need to do. We’ve done it before. We have been doing it all along, but we need to be reminded of those fundamentals.”
Roussin encouraged Manitobans to wear a mask, but the province isn’t mandating them at this time. He double-downed on following the fundamentals: using hand sanitizer, physical distancing and staying home if experiencing any symptoms, even minor ones.
“This isn’t just for another month or two, this virus is for another year or two,” he said. “We can’t rely on massive shutdowns to get through this.”
Of all confirmed and probable cases, including deaths and recoveries, in Winnipeg and Manitoba, the 20-29 and 30-39 year old age groups make up the most positive tests.
Right now, there are 112 active COVID-19 cases in the Prairie Mountain Region, 54 in Winnipeg, 41 in the Southern Health Region and four in the Interlake-Eastern Region. A large cluster of the Prairie Mountain cases root from the Maple Leaf plant in Brandon, MB.
On Friday, Pizzeria Gusto and The Merchant Kitchen posted on their social media that they would be asking for identification prior to entry.
“If you are from outside of Manitoba and the city of Brandon (excluding Lake of Woods & Kenora area) you will be asked to show a negative COVID-19 test,” Pizzeria Gusto’s Instagram story said. “We would love to have each and every one of you in, but the safety of our staff and our guests is our top priority.”
Dr. Roussin was asked about the situation at Friday’s media briefing.
“We discourage that,” said Roussin. “Remember a negative COVID test and an asymptomatic person has very low value. A negative COVID test that I received the result of today, means two to three days ago I was negative, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m negative today if I’m asymptomatic.”
Today, Pizzeria Gusto and The Merchant Kitchen said they are no longer asking for ID or requesting negative COVID-19 tests prior to entry.
“The messaging posted to our Instagram accounts yesterday was a result of miscommunication and does not reflect our policies,” said Bobby Mottola, owner of both restaurants. “… We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
The new statement from Mottola on both restaurant’s Instagram accounts added they will follow the provincial and federal health guidelines, but also said they are offering curbside pickup and contactless delivery to people who recently returned from travel.
