The provincial government announced one case from the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) area among 23 new cases of COVID-19 Sept. 16, but it is believed to be a former northern resident currently living in Winnipeg.
The case was identified as coming from the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake health district but chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said it is believed that the person who tested positive doesn’t live in the area right now.
“It's not actually going to be an active case in there,” said Roussin. “That’s preliminary information right now.”
A previous case from the same health district announced Sept. 13 that was actually someone living in Winnipeg was originally attributed to the north because the person who tested positive hadn’t changed the address on their health card after moving.
“Our data is based on the address on your health card,” said Roussin in a Sept. 14 press conference.
The Sept. 16 COVID-19 update from the province said investigations into the Winnipeg and northern cases are continuing and that the public will be notified if a public health risk is identified.
The other new cases announced Wednesday included two in the Interlake-Eastman health region and 20 cases in Winnipeg.
Six new cases of COVID-19 at John Pritchard School in Winnipeg were among those announced Wednesday. There have now been a total of seven cases at that school, which was advised by public health to transition to remote learning for several cohorts including students from Grade 4 to Grade 8 and a before- and after-school program.
“We knew that there would be cases within the school system.,” Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen said at Wednesday's news conference, noting that there are 220,000 students and tens of thousands of teachers and other staff in the province.
