As Manitoba announced nine additional COVID-19-related deaths Friday, the province’s top doctor said hundreds of recent cases have been linked to gatherings over the holidays.
Dr. Brent Roussin says a look through recent numbers has found 355 of the province’s current cases with nearly 1,900 contacts can be linked to holiday gatherings, some of which he said saw more than two dozen people getting together.
Roussin said is those statistics that led the province to extend COVID-19 restrictions that had been set to expire Friday, for another two weeks.
“These numbers are certainly things we had to take into consideration when addressing these orders,” he said.
Manitoba has been under strict public health orders since mid-November that have forced non-essential businesses to close, barred public gatherings of more than five people, and forbidden most social visits in private homes.
In a release sent just before Friday’s COVID-19 update, the province said aside from an adjustment that will allow professional hockey teams to play games and train, all other current Level Red restrictions will remain in place province-wide until at least Jan. 22.
The adjustment to the orders mean the Winnipeg Jets will be allowed to play their upcoming NHL home games at Bell MTS Place.
While number of daily COVID-19 cases has dropped sharply since the measures were introduced, intensive care units are running above their normal capacity and elective surgeries have been postponed.
The province says health officials will monitor daily case numbers and watch for increases due to the holiday season over the next two weeks.
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Manitoba had been leading the country in the per-capita infection rate for much of the fall. A few weeks after the restrictions were first brought in, the daily count of new cases started dropping sharply. The holiday period reversed the trend.
Still, case numbers are now low enough for the province to restart some elective surgeries that were put off in recent months to free up staff for the pandemic battle.
Health officials said they are planning to have 60 procedures done next week, but added that is a small amount of the backlog. Some 5,900 procedures have been delayed since October in the Winnipeg region alone.
222 new cases identified
The extended restrictions come as Roussin reported another 222 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the province’s total number of lab-confirmed cases reported cases since March to 25,963.
The latest cases include 97 cases in the Winnipeg Health region, 13 cases in the Southern Health region, 27 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 69 cases in the Northern Health region, and 16 cases in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
The virus’s latest victims bring Manitoba’s death toll from COVID-19 to 726 and include:
- a man in his 70s from Northern health region;
- a woman in her 70s from Prairie Mountain Health, linked to the outbreak at Fairview Personal Care Home;
- a woman in her 90s from Prairie Mountain Health, linked to the outbreak at Fairview Personal Care Home;
- a woman in her 90s from Prairie Mountain Health;
- a man in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region;
- a man in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region;
- a woman in her 50s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at Health Science Centre GH4;
- a woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at the Southeast Personal Care Home; and
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region.
Provincial data shows 4,582 COVID-19 cases remained active across the province as of Friday morning, but Roussin has previously said that number is likely overinflated due to a backlog in contact tracing.
Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rose to 10.1 per cent Friday after dropping below 10 for the first time since early November Thursday.
The province says 2,386 tests for COVDI-19 were completed Thursday bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 435,227.
As of Friday morning health officials said there are 227 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 88 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 315 hospitalizations.
There are 31 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as four who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care for a total of 35 ICU patients.
Health officials said new outbreaks have been declared at Actionmarguerite St. Vital in Winnipeg, Menno Home Personal Care Home in Grunthal and Lions Prairie Manor in Portage la Prairie.
Meanwhile, previously declared outbreaks have ended at Eastview Place in Altona, Portage District General Hospital Medicine Unit in Portage la Prairie and Villa Youville Personal Care Home in Ste. Anne, according to the province.
–With files from The Canadian Press
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.
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