Today marks exactly one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
The following day on March 12th, Manitoba identified its first case of the virus.
Unlike most Canadian jurisdictions, Manitoba did not experience a significant ‘first wave’, as nearly 70% of Manitoba’s total case count was detected between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020.
On October 13th, the province experienced its first triple-digit increase in cases with 124. Now twelve months in, cases have mostly been brought under control and the ramping up of the vaccine effort has enabled a cautious relaxing of restrictions every three weeks.
However, the recent identification of two variants of concern in Manitoba — the U.K. and South Africa variant — remains a cause for concern for health officials. There have been 22 cases of COVID variants detected in the provice.
There have been 32,421 total cases identified in Manitoba and 908 deaths in people with COVD-19.
Today nurses in the province are calling on Manitobans to wear white to reflect on the impact the pandemic has had on front line workers in Manitoba, including those who died, those who became ill, and those whose mental health has taken a toll.
On March 11, wear white to acknowledge the first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remember the impact on health workers in Manitoba & the world – those who died & their loved ones, those who were sick, & those whose mental health is suffering. #COVIDWarriors #FeatureFriday pic.twitter.com/HpE29kydAn
— Manitoba Nurses (@ManitobaNurses) March 5, 2021
