Manitoba now has 284 cases of COVID-19, after health officials announced two more cases Wednesday.
Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s chief public health officer, said five people are in hospital, and none are in ICU. There have been 242 recoveries and there are still 35 active cases.
The death toll remains at seven.
The two new cases are related to a cluster of cases in the Prairie Mountain Health Region, which now totals seven.
Roussin said the workplace is not related to health care or food supply, and does not interact greatly with the general public.
Global News has learned that the business involved was a trucking company, but Roussin would not confirm or deny that fact, or if inter-provincial travel or travel to the United States was involved.
“If public health felt that there was a reason for the public to be anxious or there was a reason that the public was at risk, we would be discussing that with the public,” he said.
“No further details about the business will be released at this time.”
Health officials say extensive contact tracing investigations are being done, as with every COVID-19 case.
“Most of the contact investigation has already been completed,” Roussin said Wednesday. “There’s been a lot of testing done, with new cases there’s obviously some more contact investigations to begin.”
Roussin said it was possible that there could be more cases to come from the workplace.
As of yesterday, an additional 522 laboratory tests were performed. This brings the total number of tests performed since early February to 28,294.
Lanette Siragusa of Shared Health said province is waiting for more N95 masks to arrive, and said the masks are in short supply.
Still, there are enough for the next few weeks, she said, and work is being done to reprocess and sanitize the masks.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
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.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.