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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.

The Bowsman man that rammed the gates of Rideau Hall while heavily armed last summer has been sentenced.

Corey Hurren is facing 6 years in prison minus a year served, after storming the grounds of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s home on July 2nd.

Earlier this month, Hurren pleaded guilty to 7 weapons charges and one charge for threatening the Prime Minister.

The province provided a significant update on Wednesday regarding its immunization plan.

Pop-up vaccination clinics will be launching in rural Manitoba starting next week — which is welcomed news for many who aren’t keen on the idea of driving to a supersite in Brandon or Winnipeg to receive the vaccine.

A pop-up vaccination clinic will be in Dauphin on Thursday, March 18th & Friday, March 19th, located at the Ukrainian Orthodox Hall. It will operate with hours of 12:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on March 18th, and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 19th.

Pop-up clinics will also be coming to many other locations across the province, including Swan River, Ashern, Eriksdale, Portage la Prairie, and Niverville.

Click here to see the entire pop-up clinic schedule released by the province. The province says the pop-up clinic schedule will be updated regularly.

Appointments will start to be taken for pop-up clinics on Thursday, March 11.

Appointments are required for these sites, and can be made by calling the vaccine call centre at 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC) from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily. Callers will need to have their health card ready.

Vaccine eligibility in Manitoba is open to the general public over the age of 80, and First Nations people over 60. 

Click here to read more about who's currently eligible to receive the vaccine in Manitoba.

Appointments can also be booked for supersites in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Selkirk and Morden.

The first shipment of the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine arrived in Manitoba yesterday, which is likely to eventually be administered in medical clinics and pharmacies. However, further details about how the AstraZeneca vaccine will be used in Manitoba’s immunization campaign have not yet been released by the province.

Manitoba officials are reporting 77 new cases of COVID-19 and one death in the province.

Today’s death is a woman in her 90’s from Winnipeg.

No new COVID-19 variant cases have been identified in Manitoba today.

There have been a total of 32,421 cases and 908 deaths province-wide.

Today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the following health regions:
• two cases in Interlake–Eastern health region 
• 36 cases in the Northern health region  
• six cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region  
• nine cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 24 cases in the Winnipeg health region

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 3.8 percent provincially and 2.9 percent in Winnipeg. 

There are 1,185 active cases and 30,328 people have recovered from COVID-19. 

There are 56 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 106 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 162 hospitalizations.

Nine people are in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 12 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 21 ICU patients.

According to the province’s data, there are active cases of COVID-19 in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (0), Duck Mountain (1), Porcupine Mountain (2), Whitemud (2), Little Saskatchewan (4) and Asessippi (4). Brandon has 2 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 4.

A man and a woman from Portage la Prairie are facing charges after an alleged break-in at a rural property near McCreary.

On Monday just before noon, Ste. Rose RCMP received reports of the break and enter in progress after a homeowner arrived at his property while the break-in was occurring.

An unknown man and woman fled on foot, and RCMP say the homeowner followed the suspects in his vehicle and notified police.

Officers located the suspects on Highway 50, just east of Road 84N, and arrested them without incident.

Police say the man had given officers a false name and he was charged accordingly. 

A 26-year-old woman from Portage la Prairie is facing a charge of breaking and entering and was released with an upcoming court date.

29-year-old Davey Mousseau of Portage la Prairie has been charged with breaking and entering, obstruction and failing to comply, and was remanded into custody.

RCMP continue to investigate.

The Dauphin and District Chamber of Commerce hosted its awards night and annual general meeting on Tuesday evening.

Executive Director Stephen Chychota says all the award nominees deserve every bit of spotlight they get for the great work they do in the Parkland.

The award winners were as follows:

Community Appreciation Group Nominees
Winner - Dauphin Kings Hockey Club
Other Nominees: Gilbert Plains & District Community Resource Council Inc.
Dauphin Ag Society

Community Appreciation Individual Nominees 
Winner - Randy Daley
Other Nominees:  Brenda Gregory, Kari Prawdzik

Outstanding Business Nominees
Winner - Rionet Wireless
Other Nominees:  Eastside Furniture, The Mercantile Store 

Young Entrepreneur of the Year Nominees
Winner - Matt Syrnyk - Syrnyk HD Service
Other Nominees:  Steven and Kimberley Perih - Perih Heavy Duty, Kayla Luky - Old September

Business Person of the Year Nominees
Winner - Kerry and Rachelle Fidierchuk - Fudd's Corner Store
Other Nominees: Clayton Swanton - Johnston & Company
Chuck Burton - Kelleher Ford Dauphin 
Steve Sobering - Pathways Funeral Services
Marisa Philippe - Café Trocadero

After the awards, the Dauphin Chamber held its AGM, where it was announced Gabe Mercier will be moving into the president role, formerly held by Richard Bankert.

The Dauphin Legion will be reopening as of Wednesday, March 10th.

Jean Ste Marie with the Dauphin Legion Branch says they’re glad to reopen their doors since having to close back on November 12th, when the entire province was elevated to code red.

Provincial regulations permit only one household per table, and require masks be worn at all times unless seated at a table.

VLTs will be open with social distancing measures in place.

The Dauphin Legion public relations chairperson says there will be three  VLTs open, with planning underway to potentially open more if space allows.

The Dauphin Legion hours will be Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., and Friday/Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A man from Brandon is facing charges after police say he set off fire alarms and caused damage at a Swan River hospital.

On Monday, March 8th shortly after 8 p.m., RCMP responded to the hospital and located the suspect in the lobby. Officers arrested the man and removed him from the hospital.

RCMP say the man became increasingly uncooperative and violent while officers attempted to put him in the police vehicle.

The suspect was then transported to the Swan River Detachment and lodged in cells, where police say he continued his unruly and violent behaviour.  

It was later learned that the suspect had entered one of the hospital rooms and accessed the ceiling, causing damage.

The 25-year-old man from Brandon remains in custody and is facing charges which include assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, activating a false fire alarm, and two counts of mischief under $5,000.

COVID-19 fines were up slightly from last week, as officials handed out over $25,000 worth of tickets to Manitobans.

A total of 19 tickets were issued from March 1st to 7th.

15 tickets were issued to people for various offences, three for not wearing a mask when required, and one to a Manitoba business.

Ten of the 15 tickets issued to individuals were for holding public gatherings that went against current public health orders.

Manitoba health officials announced 66 new cases of COVID-19 and one death today.

Today’s death is a woman in her 70’s from Winnipeg.

Officials have confirmed five additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K., and eight additional cases of the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa. All of the variant cases are in Winnipeg.

This takes the number of variant cases identified in Manitoba to 22.

Today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the following health districts:
• four cases in Interlake–Eastern health region; 
• 36 cases in the Northern health region;  
• zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;  
• seven cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and  
• 19 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

There are 1,153 active cases and 30,290 people who have recovered from COVID-19. 

There are 55 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 108 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 163 hospitalizations.

There are 10 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 12 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 22 ICU patients. 

The total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 in Manitoba is 907. Due to a data correction, one death that had been reported earlier has been removed.

There have been a total of 32,350 cases of COVID-19 reported province-wide.

According to the province’s data, there are active cases of COVID-19 in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (0), Duck Mountain (1), Porcupine Mountain (2), Whitemud (1), and Asessippi (4). Brandon has 1 active case.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 4.

The Dauphin RCMP provided an update at the City Council meeting on Monday night.

Speaking to the City Councillors, Staff Sergeant Raymond Campbell from the Dauphin detachment provided statistics on the first two months of 2021, compared to the previous year.

Comparing January of this year to last, call volumes were down 25%, and drug incidents were up slightly.

Perhaps the most pressing issue noticed in January was a 30% increase in mental health calls compared to the same period of time a year earlier, which Staff Sergeant Campbell says “is a concern within our community”.

Statistics for the month of February show mental health calls were also up 15%, with overall calls down 28%. Assaults were down 64% and mischief calls down 33% in February, compared to the same month a year prior.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Campbell also reported staffing levels are down 25%, “which seems like a lot,” but added, “compared to other communities in the province we’re pretty good.”

He credits the staffing issue to a minimal flow of new recruits due to COVID. “We’re not seeing the cadets come to the province like we normally are … and we’re adapting to that. I can’t say it’s going to get better soon, we’re on the train tracks for the long haul, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“We do the best we can with what we have.”

The Dauphin detachment also has plans to support the Northwest Metis Council (NWMC), which is looking at getting an RCMP Family Violence Initiative Fund grant.