Editor’s note: This story has been updated as the province’s case numbers online did not originally match up with the provincial press release.
Manitoba health officials say the province has two additional cases of the novel coronavirus after a weekend spike.
Shared Health’s chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa and Health Minister Cameron Friesen spoke to Manitobans Tuesday.
The total number of cases is now at 442, with 94 active cases, nine people in hospital and four in ICU, with 93,995 tests done in total.
Another 1,034 tests were done Monday.
Of the cases on the weekend and today, there were 10 in the Prairie Mountain Health region, two in the Interlake, 12 in the Southern Health region and three in Winnipeg.
The conference comes after a weekend with 27 new coronavirus cases, including an 18-case spike announced on Sunday.
Friesen said the 18-case spike came as a surprise to Manitobans.
Several restaurants and businesses closed in Steinbach over the weekend after news leaked out about cases in the community.
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Friesen said there were four cases in Steinbach, all in the same household, and the cases were imported by travel.
“On the basis of that … it’s still appropriate to move about the community,” he said, noting if it were dangerous to do so, the province would say so.
Due to the long weekend, there was very little information given about the cases.
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.
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