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Prairie Mountain health region will see group size restrictions due to growing number of COVID cases

Manitoba’s new pandemic response system got pressed into service a day after being announced, with the province elevating the Prairie Mountain health region to restricted level orange due to the number of cases in the area continuing to grow, particu
covid 19

Manitoba’s new pandemic response system got pressed into service a day after being announced, with the province elevating the Prairie Mountain health region to restricted level orange due to the number of cases in the area continuing to grow, particularly in Brandon.

More than half – 17 – of the 33 new cases of COVID-19 announced by the province Thursday were in the Prairie Mountain health region, which now has 95 cases, mostly in Brandon, where there are 61 cases connected to the Maple Leaf Foods plant and 66 in what public health officials are calling the Brandon cluster. Twenty-one Brandon residents are part of both those clusters, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said.

As a result of the regional pandemic response level going up to orange, the Prairie Mountain region will see gatherings such as weddings or family get-togethers limited to 10 people or fewer beginning Aug. 24, though no group size restrictions apart from those currently in place will be instituted for restaurants, stores or religious gatherings. Mask use will also be mandatory in indoor public places as well as any gatherings, where inside or outside.

Roussin said the reason for limiting gatherings but not the number of people in other public places is because public health officials are seeing increased community-based transmission, particularly at large informal gatherings either inside our outside the City of Brandon.

“The epidemiology is telling us it’s these large group gatherings that are driving this,” said Roussin. 

Although getting together outside has a lower risk of virus transmission, the risk is not zero, Roussin said, especially if people are not practising physical distancing.

“We’ve lost touch with the fundamental the things that got us to success early on,” Roussin said.

Ten of the other new cases announced Aug. 20 were in the southern health region while six were in Winnipeg.

The total number of cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba since the pandemic began is now 796. Of those, 247 cases are active and 537 are considered recovered. Twelve people have died from the virus in Manitoba to date.

Yesterday, 1,596 tests for the novel coronavirus were processed in Manitoba. To date, 119,210 people in the province have been tested for the virus.

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