Manitoba’s north continued to show a high number of COVID-19 cases relative to its population on Jan. 18, reporting 46 new cases, one more than Winnipeg had on the same day.
118 new cases were reported in the province on Monday, as well as four additional deaths, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 773. One of those deaths was a man in his 80s from the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA), whose case was linked to the outbreak and Rod McGillivary Memorial Care Home. His was the 29th death of a northern resident due to COVID-19. The region’s 28th death, of a man in his 70s, was reported Jan. 17.
The majority of the new cases reported n the north on Monday were from the Island Lake health district, where there were 30 new cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the region to 492.
“We’re concerned that we’re seeing an increasingly disproportionate effect on First Nations,” said chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin at the Jan. 18 COVID-19 press conference
There were also new cases reported in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry/Sherridon health district (3), the Grand Rapids/Moose Lake/Easterville/Chemawawin health district (4) and the Gillam/Fox Lake, Thompson/Mystery Lake, The Pas/Opaskwayak/Kelsey and Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/South Indian Lake/Leaf Rapids health districts, all with two new cases.
An outbreak was declared Jan 16 at the hospital in Lynn Lake, which implemented a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. beginning Jan. 18 for all residents except essential workers.
Roussin said the curfew wasn’t a result of a direct recommendation from public health.
“I think a curfew is always discussed and we see that in other jurisdictions,” he said. “The real issue is finding ways to limit the amount of contacts.”
There are 1,469 active cases in the NRHA as of Jan. 18, though the number is likely overstated. There have been nearly 3,000 cases of COVID-19 in the north so far, the third-highest number for any Manitoba health region behind Winnipeg and the southern health region.
The five-day test positivity rate for Manitoba on Monday was 10.6 per cent and there were 289 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including 135 with active infections and 154 who are no longer considered infectious. Twenty-three Manitobans are in intensive care due to active COVID infections while another 12 still in ICU are no longer considered infectious. Thirty-three northern residents, two whose cases are no longer considered active, are hospitalized due to COVID-19, including six in intensive care.
Roussin said the goal is to let people know as early as possible this week what public health orders will look like after Jan. 22 so businesses have time to plan accordingly.
“We’re going to try as early as we can this week to give that signal,” he said. “We know that businesses will appreciate some of that prior notice to get things moving.”
He also said that restrictions may be moving back to a region-by-region model soon and that public health orders may be eased differently in different health regions depending on their current situation.
“That’s not off the table,” Roussin said. “I think we want to try to get back to that regional approach.”
Nevertheless, some restrictions will remain in place for quite some time.
“We are many months away from a place where we can start thinking about getting back to anything resembling being normal.”
