Three businesses in Winnipeg were given $5,000 fines this past week for flouting COVID-19 restrictions.
Young’s Market on McPhillips Street, Walmart on Portage Avenue and Bianca Amour’s on Ellice Avenue were all slapped with the large fines for violating public health orders.
The province said Wednesday that 193 warnings and 58 tickets were handed out from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27. Of those, 51 fines of $1,296 were given to people for various health order violations, and four were for people not wearing a mask in an indoor public space.
Face shields are not an alternative to masks in Manitoba, said the province.
“Officials advise that 44 of the 51 $1,296 tickets issued last week were in relation to gatherings in private residences,” said the province.
“As New Year’s Eve approaches, Manitobans are reminded that public health orders remain in effect throughout the holidays and must be followed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
Since April, 617 tickets have been issued by Manitoba officers and officials, and have brought in more than $919,000 in fines.
Numbers update
Manitoba public health officials are reporting two additional deaths in people with COVID-19 Wednesday.
They include:
- a woman in her 70s from the Northern health region, linked to the outbreak at Thompson General Hospital MSP ward; and
- a woman in her 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region, linked to the outbreak at Fairview Personal Care Home.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 12.6 per cent provincially and 11.9 per cent in Winnipeg.
As of Wednesday, 130 new cases of the virus have been identified, which brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 24,513.
The latest infections include:
- 11 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region
- 11 cases in the Northern health region
- 8 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
- 8 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
- 92 cases in the Winnipeg health region
The data also shows there are 4,444 active cases and 19,408 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
Right now there are 248 people in hospital for COVID-19 with 32 in ICU.
The provincial total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 661.
Laboratory testing numbers show 1,193 tests were done, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February to 419,542.
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.