Accessibility Tools

LISTEN LIVE 

NewsNow

Manitoba Health officials say they will no longer be notifying close contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. It will now be the responsibility of the person who tested positive to reach out to their close contacts.

Due to the expected increase in cases and contacts with the emergence of the Omicron variant, public health believes the numbers will surpass their resources.

They still plan on doing contact tracing in certain situations, such as outbreaks in schools and care homes, but the focus of resources will be shifted to the provinces vaccination campaign.

Details

The University of Manitoba has announced that it will have remote classes to start the winter term according to University President and Vice-Chancellor Michael Benarroch. The U of M follows the University of Winnipeg who made their announcement to start the new term remotely last week.

Benarroch says they will reevaluate the situation as they approach their winter break at the end of February and then they will decide if they are going back to in-person classes or if they will continue remotely. Limited in-person activities will continue if it is absolutely necessary and there is no reasonable remote alternative.

More information will be given to students by their faculties, and staff will receive the info they need from their supervisors.

Details

UPDATE: Brandon Regional Health Centre has been added to the list of hospitals postponing surgeries. All elective endoscopies at the BRHC will be postponed to allow staff to support the intensive care unit.

----------

The province has announced that starting today, it will be canceling more surgeries to make room for any emergency and cancer surgeries that could potentially come up in the next few weeks.

According to Shared Health, surgical capacity will not be reduced, but it will be prioritized for those who need emergency or urgent surgery.

Patients whose procedures are being affected by the change will either be told their surgeries have been postponed or the location of the surgery has changed.

Details

Ottawa is responding to Manitoba's request for nurses as hospitals grapple with spiking COVID-19 cases.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says nurses from the Canadian Red Cross are being sent to Manitoba and will remain in the province until January 17th.

Blair's office says as many as eight emergency acute-care nurses will be deployed.

Red Cross officials say they're still trying to determine exactly where to send the additional help.

Details

The Canadian Government announced that they're bringing back a requirement for everyone entering the country to have a pre-arrival negative molecular test result for COVID-19, even if travellers are returning after being away for less than 72 hours.

Canada is also removing their ban on all travellers who have recently passed through 10 African countries which the federal government introduced late last month in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant first identified in South Africa.

Canada's chief public health officer Doctor Theresa Tam says over the past seven days, Canada has seen an average of five-thousand new COVID-19 cases daily.

That's 45 percent higher than the previous seven-day period.

Details

Manitoba's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin and Health Minister Audrey Gordon have announced new restrictions that will come into effect Tuesday. The restrictions will be in place until at least January 11th.

The restrictions that start Tuesday are

  • Private gatherings will be household plus ten people if all above 12 are vaccinated

  • If even one person is unvaccinated then it's limited to household members plus 5 people.

  • Public indoor gatherings are to be at 25% or 25 people whichever is lower.

  • Outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 people.

  • Gyms, theaters, licensed venues, and museums are limited to 50% capacity

  • Restaurants, both licensed and unlicensed will have a max of ten people per table and everyone must remain seated.

  • Faith gatherings that require vaccination can have 50% capacity.

  • Faith gatherings that don't require vaccination are limited to 25% or 25 ppl whichever is lower.

  • No sports tournaments are allowed

  • Games and practices are allowed, spectator capacity is limited to 50%.

  • Large indoor events are limited to 50% capacity.

 

Settings that previously required people to show proof of vaccination will still have to do so.

Details

The Dauphin Hospital Foundation has received a very generous donation from the estate of Anne Stewart. Mrs. Stewart passed away earlier this year and left the hospital foundation $100,000.

Foundation Chairman Greg Thompson said the board is truly touched by Mrs. Stewart's generosity. She had also donated $15,000 to the hospital in 2020 in memory of her husband Peter.

Thompson said one of the areas the donation will go towards is the Dauphin Regional Health Centre Palliative Care Project.

Details

On December 15, 2021, at approximately 9:00 pm, Portage la Prairie RCMP received information regarding a social media post where a male youth was seen holding a firearm and threatening students and staff at the Portage Collegiate Institute.

An investigation was immediately launched which led to the arrest yesterday morning of a 14-year-old male, from Portage la Prairie.

He was later released for court scheduled for April 13, 2022, in Portage la Prairie.

Officers located and seized the firearm displayed in the online photo which was confirmed to be a BB gun.

Portage la Prairie RCMP continues to investigate and further arrests are possible.

Details

The Government of Manitoba has announced a program to offer free rapid covid-19 tests to all First Nations schools for students in kindergarten to grade six.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Education Minister Cliff Cullen said in a news release on Friday that the amount of tests is very limited after receiving a shipment of rapid antigen tests from the federal government.

The province says once more tests become available they will offer them to more school divisions across the province.

Details

The University of Winnipeg has announced that they will be moving to remote learning for the start of their 2022 Winter Term. The plan is to have classes be remote until at least the February reading week. Some classes and labs will remain in person if necessary.

The University will re-evaluate the situation at the end of January and decide whether they are going back to in-person or continuing with remote classes.

The current Fall Term exam schedule will continue as planned.

Find the full release from the University of Winnipeg here.

Details

UPDATE: A Judge has dismissed Shelly Glover's application to throw out the result of October's Progressive Conservative Leadership vote, which saw Heather Stephanson win and replace Brain Pallister as Premier. 

---------

A judge is expected to rule today in a fight over the leadership of Manitoba's governing Progressive Conservatives.

Shelly Glover, who finished a close second in the party's October 30th leadership race, alleges there were voting irregularities and wants the result thrown out.

Heather Stefanson won with 51 percent of ballots cast and was sworn in as premier three days later to replace Brian Pallister, who had retired.

Glover's lawyers have pointed to a voter spreadsheet handed out by the party, which showed fewer total ballots than the official results.

The party says while the spreadsheet was flawed, it had no bearing on the number of votes received and counted.

All parties in the case are expected in court at 1 pm to hear the judge’s decision.

Details

More News