Health officials reported 38 new cases of novel coronavirus Monday, including one that’s led health officials to declare an outbreak at a personal care home in Steinbach.
As of Monday Manitoba’s total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases identified sits at 731 and the current test positivity rate in the province is 1.78 per cent.
Health officials said one of the new cases is at a personal care home in Steinbach. That one case identified at Bethesda Place in Steinbach has led the province to declare an outbreak at the facility.
Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin said he couldn’t yet say how the personal care home resident contacted COVID-19, but added an investigation is underway.
“Certainly the care home responded quite quickly and quite appropriately to a symptomatic individual,” he said at a Monday press conference.
“They immediately had that person in isolation, they immediately isolated wings of that personal care home, and tested very early.”
There were 232 active known cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba and 490 people have recovered as of Monday. Eleven people are hospitalized, including three people in intensive care. No new deaths were reported Monday.
Monday’s cases include one person from the Interlake–Eastern Health region, 20 in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 12 new cases in Southern Health, and five people in Winnipeg.
Roussin said the majority of the cases in the Prairie Mountain Health and Southern Health regions are tied to a cluster of known cases. A cluster of cases in Brandon has grown to 64 cases, he said.
An outbreak of cases among employees at the Brandon Maple Leaf pork processing plant now sits at 56, Roussin said. He said the province still hasn’t seen evidence of transmission in the workplace.
“Although we’re watching that situation very, very closely,” he said.
The new cases come after 56 new lab-confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 were reported across Manitoba over the weekend.
Health officials also reported Manitoba’s ninth death from the virus — a man in his 80s from Portage la Prairie — Saturday.
Potential exposure warning
Roussin also warned of a potential exposure to the virus at a 7-Eleven store in Brandon earlier this month.
He said the potential exposure was possible at the convenience store at 3360 Victoria Street from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 5 through Aug. 7.
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While Roussin said the risk of transmission is considered low, anyone who was in the store should seek testing should symptoms appear.
The doctor also reiterated calls for only those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or those who have been recommended by public health to go for testing. Roussin said those with symptoms should seek testing as soon as possible once symptoms appear.
The province is calling on employers to only send employees for testing if they have symptoms or if testing has been recommended by public health.
Manitoba saw 1,1716 tests for COVID-19 performed Sunday, bringing the number of tests done since early February to 115,963.
On online screening tool for COVID-19 is available on the province’s website.
Jump in case counts
Manitoba has seen a sharp jump in cases after going nearly two weeks without reporting a single case through the first half of July.
The province’s 13-day streak of no cases ended July 14 when five cases were reported and Manitoba’s total case count rose to 330.
In the just over a month since those five cases were reported, Manitoba’s total case count has more than doubled, with 401 new cases identified, and Roussin has said there’s evidence of community transmission in both Winnipeg and Brandon.
On Friday, health officials reported 40 new cases, tying the record for the highest single-day increase in cases reported in Manitoba, set in April.
Roussin said Monday health officials knew the province wasn’t done with the virus.
“We knew that we’re in a pandemic and that’s not what was going to be in store for our future,” he said of the nearly 14 days without a case.
“I think that most of us in public health were definitely expecting numbers like this and possibly worse in the fall respiratory-virus season, I think we were doing our planning based on probably a more mild summer, but that’s what this is like — if you get a couple clusters it can spread quickly.”
In early May the province started a phased approach to easing public health restrictions put in place to stem the virus’s spread.
The loosened rules have seen the reopening businesses including restaurants, bars and shopping centres with restrictions, and most recently saw movie theatres and casinos allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in late July.
Health officials have also lifted 14-day self-isolation orders for those arriving in Manitoba from western provinces and parts of northern Ontario.
On Monday Roussin was asked what indicators would trigger health officials to consider rolling back the loosened public health orders. He said more information would be released on that later this week.
In the meantime Roussin renewed calls for Manitobans to wear masks while out in the public Monday, but still stopped short of mandating their use.
“In indoor public places where you’re not certain that you can physically distance, we’re recommending you wear masks,” he said.
“It’s an additional measure, it doesn’t replace those fundamentals that we’ve spoken about, but it’s an additional measure that we can all take to limit the transmission of this virus.”
Schools reopening
Last week Manitoba’s education minister announced details of the province’s plan to have students return to the classroom in September.
Schools will reopen on Sept. 8, with teachers and staff returning Sept. 2 to get ready.
Under the province’s plan, face masks will be “strongly recommended” but not mandatory for students and staff returning to school, although all students Grade 5 and up, and bus drivers, will be required to wear masks on school buses.
On Monday Roussin said “nothing has ever been off the table” when asked if the rising case counts may lead to masks being made mandatory at schools.
“We’re certainly always relooking at the plans,” he said.
“We want to make sure Manitobans are confident and as in any step in the reopening we rely on the confidence of Manitobans … so we’ll continue to look at that.”
The province says it will provide masks and other personal protective equipment to school divisions to hand out to students and staff.
The province says all students are expected to participate and a doctor’s note will be required to say a child is immunocompromised.
The province said all Manitoba school divisions will need to post their individual plans for reopening this week.
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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