Manitoba announced 139 new cases of COVID-19 April 8 and said it has detected 40 more samples that screened positive for variants of concern. A death of a man in his 70s reported in late March has also been determined to have been the result of infection with a variant.
Three deaths were also reported on Thursday. 946 Manitobans have died as a result of the virus since the pandemic began. Two previously announced cases were removed from the provincial total for a net daily increase of 137 cases.
Sixty of the cases announced April 8 were from the Winnipeg region and 55 from the north. There were also 18 cases from the Prairie Mountain health region and six from the southern health region.
The north’s total number of cases on the provincial government’s COVID-19 website actually rose by 59 from Wednesday, to a total of 6,209.
New northern cases included 27 from the Island Lake health district and 20 from the Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Mosakahiken/Moose Lake/Easterville/Chemawawin district.
R.D. Parker Collegiate also sent out a letter to parents and guardians April 8 notifying them that at least one person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the A-K cohort was in the school March 22 and March 23 when they may have been infectious. Close contacts are being identified and advised to self-isolate. Anyone who has not been contacted by the school informing them that their child was a potential close contact or by a public health officials within the next two days has not been identified as having been exposed to a potentially infectious person, the letter says.
Across Manitoba, there are 141 people in hospital due to COVID-19, 58 of them with active cases. Thirteen of those active cases are in intensive care, along with 20 people who are no longer considered infectious. Twenty-nine people from the north are in hospital due to the virus, 17 of them with active infections. Six of those 17 are in intensive care as are five other northern residents who are no longer considered infectious.
Thirty-seven of the new variant-linked infections detected involve the B.1.1.7 or United Kingdom variant. Thirty-two were from the Winnipeg region, two each from the Interlake-Eastern and Prairie Mountain health regions and one from the southern region. The other three newly detected variant-linked infectious have not been categorized There have now been 298 infections linked to the B.1.1.7 variant and 20 to the B.1.351 or South Africa variant in Manitoba as well as 21 uncategorized cases for a total of 339 variant-linked cases.
Personal care home residents may now have two visitors if they meet outdoors. Visitors must wear medical-grade masks that will be provided by the personal care home. Only one person can visit a PCH resident if the visit takes place in a designated indoor visiting room or a visitation shelter. Public health officials recommends that residents and visitors meet outside whenever possible because the risk of infection is lower outside.
Minor changes to public health orders were announced April 8. Liquor cart sales are allowed on golf courses and attendance at self-help meetings expanded to 25 people as of 12:01 a.m.April 9. All other current public health orders are being extended until at least April 30.
