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The RCMP is following the advice of public health and are providing front-line staff with non-medical masks.

The masks will be worn by officers on duty in situations where personal protective equipment (PPE) is not required but where physical distancing may be difficult to maintain.

Police are acknowledging that some people may be uncomfortable being approached by a police officer with a mask on, and say the public may ask to see police identification, when it’s safe to do so.

For this reason, RCMP officers will be carrying one, or all, of the following with them:
·         RCMP badge
·         RCMP photo identification
·         RCMP name tag on their uniform
·         RCMP business cards with detachment phone numbers to verify their identity

RCMP say that in most situations, the officer you are interacting with will be able to provide you with identification or information to verify that they are an RCMP officer.

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US-based Novavax and the Canadian government have reached an agreement to supply the country with up to 76 million doses of a possible vaccine for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement this morning in Montreal.

Novavax’s vaccine is in preliminary trials in the US and Australia and needs to pass safety reviews then be approved by Health Canada.

The vaccine is in its second phase of clinical trials and is set to enter the third phase in September.

The 76 million doses of the vaccine in the contract would almost be enough to give every Canadian 2 doses.

This is the third deal that the Canadian government has made with COVID-19 vaccine developers.

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The emergency department in Roblin will be shut down until further notice as of Friday, September 4.

Some community members are now expressing their concerns, with this news coming just days after the announcement that Roblin’s lab staff were being relocated to Russell to address staff shortages.

The suspension of emergency department services goes into effect at 4 p.m. on September 4. 

In a press release, Prairie Mountain Health CEO, Penny Gilson, says "we acknowledge the community has concerns about this impact on local service and that has been reflected in the number of emails and phone calls we have already received.” Gilson added that ultimately the decision was made to “temporarily direct community members in need of urgent care to other facilities in the area."

In the event of a health emergency, health officials are advising community members to call 911, or make the 30 minute trip to the emergency department in Russell or Grandview.

A Shared Health spokesperson said in an email that services are being “temporarily consolidated at Russell Health Centre due to a number of staff vacancies throughout the area”. The spokesperson added that recruitment to fill these positions is ongoing.

At this time there are still several clinical services that will continue at the Roblin District Health Centre. This includes in-patient care, diagnostic services like ultrasounds, ECG exams and lab sample collection.

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The Progressive Conservative government is announcing more than $50 million in water and waste infrastructure as part of the #RestartMB Program, and some of that money will be making its way to the Parkland.

In Grandview, the Water and Wastewater Renewal project will receive some funding, along with two water infrastructure projects in McCreary.

The province says funding these projects will provide safe drinking water, environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment and promote economic opportunities in rural Manitoba. 

Dauphin MLA, Brad Michaleski says these investments in local infrastructure projects “will ensure Manitobans have access to modern, reliable water and wastewater services”.

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Manitoba health officials reported 35 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

The province’s total case number is now 1,186, with 462 cases considered active. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 is 14.

Data about the number of hospitalizations was unavailable this weekend, but is expected to be provided on Monday.

Over the weekend, a total of 90 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, with 43 in the Prairie Mountain Health region. 

None of the newly announced cases are in the Dauphin health district, where there have been a total of 7 cases, all of which are listed as recovered.

It's recommended that only individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should go for testing, unless otherwise directed by health officials. Individuals with symptoms are asked to seek testing as soon as possible once symptoms are present.

Case investigations indicate three cases previously-identified in the Prairie Mountain Health region are linked to a unit on the second floor of the Assiniboine Building of the Brandon Regional Health Centre. Close contacts of staff have been notified, and the case investigations are continuing.

While the risk is assessed to be low, the site has initiated outbreak protocols out of an abundance of caution. As a result, the second floor of the Assiniboine Building is putting additional measures in place to further reduce the risk to residents and staff, and is restricting visitation. The second floor of the Assiniboine Building is moving to Critical (red) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System.

For up-to-date information on COVID in Manitoba, click here.

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To start the weekend, public health officials have announced 55 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.

This brings the total number of cases in the province to 1,151.

31 of the new cases are from the PMH region, 19 are in Winnipeg, and 5 are from the Southern Health region.

444 cases are considered active, while 693 have been listed as recovered.

Dauphins total is still 7, all of which have recovered.

The number of deaths due to COVID is 14.

The province doesn't have the number of hospitalizations available today because of system upgrades, but they expect that information to be available tomorrow.

Preliminary investigations show that 19 of today's cases are close contacts of previously announced cases.

Public health officials say a previously identified case from the PMH region is a health care worker at the Hillcrest Place personal care home in Brandon. The individual wore protective equipment and is self-isolating. Close contacts have been identified and the case investigation is continuing.

Manitobans are strongly encouraged to return to the fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This means not going out while you feel ill, practicing proper hand hygiene, covering your cough, and physical distancing when with people from outside your household. If you can't physical distance, wear a mask.

For up-to-date information on COVID in Manitoba, go to www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.

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Canada has reinstated its international travel ban for the month of September.

The ban was extended Friday night, excluding all non-essential travellers outside of Canada from entering the country until at least September 30th.

Those who do enter Canada will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

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Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont is calling for the PC government to offer a more flexible back to school approach.

Lamont tells CKDM he’d like to see school divisions be allowed to offer remote learning options or push back the starting date of classes.

“Right now the province is basically saying you basically have to school in person, and if you’re worried about doing that you have to take them out of the public system and homeschool them instead. We’re saying that’s not acceptable, and we’re backing this group called Safe September Manitoba, who say we have to have remote learning as an option.”

The Manitoba Liberal Leader and MLA for St. Boniface also wants to ensure the $85.4 million in federal funding for education actually goes towards making schools safe.

Lamont says the money could be directed towards making remote learning options more feasible by improving internet connections, or purchasing equipment such as laptops.

A release sent out by the provincial Liberals on Friday points out that other provinces, including BC, Saskatchewan and Ontario are all providing a public option for remote learning — but the Pallister government is not.

“I understand there are school divisions that are willing and able to do this remote learning, but they need to get permission from the province," says Dougald Lamont.

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There’s some concern amongst Roblin residents following a move to relocate some of their health centre’s lab technicians to Russell.

Jana Knight is a business owner in Roblin, and tells CKDM her community was given little notice about the decision to close the Lab and X-Ray department on September 1. 

“When people here came to understand that once our lab and x-ray people are gone, then we can longer have an ER — then the urgency ramped up in our community.”

Knight has been contacting various government officials, and the Prairie Mountain Health CEO, asking for the decision to be reconsidered.

“We have 4 doctors currently in Roblin. What I don’t agree with is pulling our lab staff, thereby closing our ER and jeopardizing the four doctors we have in order to keep Russell open. I don’t want the Russell lab to close. I don’t want any lab in Manitoba to close, but I don’t think theirs should stay open and ours should close," said Knight.

She also expressed her concerns about community members, especially seniors, having to drive 50 kilometres south to Russell on rural roads in the wintertime.

“All of the sudden they’re pulling the rug out from under us in Roblin, because it’s a good time. I think doing it during a pandemic, in the middle of harvest, is pretty dirty pool.”

An email from a Shared Health spokesperson stated that diagnostic services will be “temporarily consolidated at Russell Health Centre due to a number of staff vacancies throughout the area”.

The Shared Health spokesperson also said that recruitment to fill those positions is ongoing, with an effort to maintain as much service as possible in the meantime. ECG exams and phlebotomy (i.e. lab sample collection, including blood samples) will continue to occur in Roblin, with testing occurring off-site.

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WestJet is cracking down on their mask-wearing policies next week, removing any passengers who refuse to wear a face covering.

Starting September 1st, all passengers over the age of 2 are required to wear a mask, unless the person has a doctor’s note explaining why they can’t wear one.

Anyone who doesn’t follow the new restrictions could be put on the company’s no-fly list for up to a year, suspending them from flights.

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The province reports that mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus have been found in Manitoba.

Two infected mosquito pools have been identified in Brandon and Winnipeg, according to a release from the province on Friday.

There have been no reports on the virus being transmitted to humans this year. Last year there were no West Nile infected mosquitoes found in Manitoba.

There are permanent mosquito traps set up in 21 community areas in southern Manitoba to monitor the Culex tarsalis mosquitoes — which are the most likely mosquito species to transmit West Nile to humans.

The Manitoba Government has released some tips on how to best protect yourself from the West Nile virus:

  • Apply an appropriate insect repellent when outdoors and follow the instructions on the label.
  • Wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing with long sleeves and pant legs while outdoors.
  • Reduce time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn.
  • Make sure your doors and window screens fit tightly and are free of holes.
  • Reduce the mosquito habitat around your home by regularly cleaning and emptying water-holding containers such as birdbaths, wading pools, children's toys, eavestroughs, tarp covers and plant trays.

For an up-to-date look at the provincial data on West Nile virus in Manitoba, click here.

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