After more than a week of double-digit positive tests, Manitoba set a record for daily COVID-19 cases Saturday with 42 new cases identified in the province, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive cases to 872.
More than half of Saturday’s new cases were identified in the Prairie Mountain Health region where 24 new cases were identified as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday. An additional 16 cases were recorded in the Southern health region and two were identified in Winnipeg.
Data from provincial health authorities shows that six individuals are currently in hospital, including one in the intensive care unit. There are currently 290 active cases of the virus in Manitoba and 570 people have recovered. Twelve Manitobans have died as a result of the virus.
New cases identified across the province have held steadily in the double-digits for 10 days, reaching the previous peak of 40 new cases on Sunday. The majority of cases have cropped up in the Prairie Mountain Health region, where clusters have been identified in Brandon, primarily stemming from an outbreak at the Maple Leaf Foods plant.
Most new cases in previous days have been linked to close contacts of known cases, though Manitoba’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin has acknowledged evidence of community spread in Brandon.
As a result, the province has placed restrictions on the Prairie Mountain region in accordance with the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System. As of Monday, those living in the Prairie Mountain region will be required to wear masks in all indoor public places and at all indoor or outdoor public gatherings. Gathering sizes have been restricted to 10 people both indoors and outdoors.
The Prairie Mountain region leads the province for currently active cases with 125, according to government data. Winnipeg follows with 80 active cases, the Southern Health region with 79 and the Interlake-Eastern region with six. The government reports no active cases in the Northern health region, where all three previous recorded cases of the virus have been resolved.
In a release posted to Facebook on Friday evening, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation announced one active case of the virus had been identified in the Fox Lake community after an individual travelled from the Prairie Mountain region to visit family in the northern Manitoba town of Gillam. The individual was in Gillam from August 12 to August 21, the release said, and returned to the Prairie Mountain region upon testing positive Friday. The individual was reportedly informed of potential contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Prairie Mountain region and immediately self-isolated away from family.
Contact tracing in Gillam has taken place, and all close contacts to the case are self-isolating, Fox Lake Cree Nation said in the release.
The current five-day test positivity rate is 1.8 per cent in Manitoba, down slightly from two per cent on Friday. The province reports an additional 1,849 laboratory tests were completed Friday, bringing the total number of tests completed since early February to 124,140.
The province’s public health officials are asking Manitobans to return to the “fundamentals” of COVID-19 prevention, including staying home when feeling ill, proper hand-washing, covering coughs, maintaining two-metre physical distancing when possible and wearing masks when unable to physically distance.
Public health officials have also announced a new testing site will open at 2735 Pembina Highway in Winnipeg as of Tuesday. The site will be open to the public on a walk-in basis, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days per week, replacing the Access Fort Garry testing location which will close after Monday.
Only Manitobans experiencing symptoms of the virus should go for testing, the province said, unless recommended by public health.
Twitter: @jsrutgers
Julia-Simone Rutgers
Reporter
Julia-Simone Rutgers is a general-assignment reporter.
