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The most restrictive lockdown measures since the start of the pandemic go into effect across the province today — elevating all regions of Manitoba to Critical red on the Pandemic Response System.
The public health order signed by Dr. Brent Roussin states Manitoba will be facing red level restrictions for a minimum of four weeks, or two incubation periods.
Manitobans don’t need a law to do what is right - restrict your social interactions to your household. Not because you’ll be fined, but because it’s the right thing to do to fight #Covid19MB https://t.co/hojK3mRaqE
— Dr. Brent Roussin (@roussin_brent) November 12, 2020
What’s Going To Remain Open To The Public
Retail businesses deemed critical may remain open to the public at 25% capacity, which may include:
- Grocery, convenience stores, butcher shops, and bakeries
- Gas Stations
- Banks and financial services
- Liquor and cannabis stores
- Hardware stores, businesses that provide PPE
- Dentistry, massage therapy, and physiotherapy
- Transportation services
- Construction
- Agriculture and food production services
Click here for the full list of businesses allowed to remain open.
Schools and childcare centres will remain open with Orange level restrictions; a move the province defended saying these sites are safe and the level of transmission there has been minimal across Manitoba.
Non-essential Businesses Must Close Doors
Businesses like restaurants, bars, beverage rooms, brewpubs, microbreweries, distilleries, barbers, nail salons, casinos, theatres and concert halls will have to close their doors to the public.
Restaurants can still remain open for pickup and delivery; the same goes for non-essential retail shops.
The province announced a new financial support for businesses affected by the lockdown. The Manitoba Bridge Grant will provide an immediate one-time payment of $5,000 to small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit and charitable organizations that were directly ordered to temporarily cease operations by Manitoba’s public-health orders.
Religious Gatherings, Sports, Gyms, Fitness Centres
All religious services must close or be provided virtually.
All gyms, fitness centres, recreational facilities, as well as indoor and outdoor sports facilities will be closed in code red.
Why Is Prairie Mountain Health Being Moved To Red?
When asked why Prairie Mountain Health is also being elevated to red -- despite lower case numbers compared to the rest of the province -- Dr. Roussin cited the rising test positivity rate in all of Manitoba's health regions. Roussin also said the number of contacts per case is trending in the wrong direction.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Endow Manitoba Giving Challenge has been extended this year to run for the entire week.
The Dauphin & District Community Foundation (DDCF) is encouraging donations -- which will be placed in an endowment fund, as the interest is given out each year as grants to local organizations around our community.
The DDCF has reached over $3-million in endowment funds, and over $1-million has been granted to local projects since 1996.
The Endow Manitoba Giving Challenge runs from November 9 - 15.
Visit DauphinCommunityFoundation.ca for more information and to donate.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
The province announced 431 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, along with the death of nine more Manitobans who contracted the novel coronavirus.
It’s the most deaths announced in a single day and brings the province’s total to 123, including:
• a male in his 60s from the Winnipeg health region
• a female in her 60s from the Northern health region
• a male in his 70s from the Southern Health–Santé Sud region
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the St. Boniface Hospital outbreak
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the Parkview Place outbreak
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the Misericordia Place Personal Care Home
• a female in her 70s from the Interlake–Eastern health region
• a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the Victoria hospital outbreak
• a male in his 80s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the Seine River Retirement Residence, Assisted Living Facility cluster
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.7 per cent provincially and 10.8 per cent in Winnipeg.
The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 9,308.
Today’s data shows:
• 32 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• 33 cases in the Northern health region;
• 13 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• 101 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
• 252 cases in the Winnipeg health region
There are 136 active cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, according to the province.
Active Case Counts
The following Parkland health districts have active cases: Swan River (11), Porcupine Mountain (2), Duck Mountain (1), Asessippi (7), Little Saskatchewan (8), Whitemud (14), Agassiz Mountain (1). Dauphin has 0 active cases. There are 49 active cases in Brandon, according to the province’s dashboard.
In the Interlake-Eastern region, there are 75 active cases in the Eriksdale/Ashern health district. The Fisher/Peguis health district has 184 active cases.
The following exposure has been reported in the Prairie Mountain Health region:
If you visited this site on the dates/times below, you do not need to self-isolate. However, you should self-monitor for symptoms and seek testing if symptoms develop.
There are 5,676 active cases province-wide — with 4,126 in the Winnipeg region.
There are 218 people in hospital with 32 people in intensive care.
The entire province of Manitoba is moving to Code Red on the Pandemic Response System starting Thursday, November 12.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba’s First Nations communities will be receiving a $61.4 million boost to help battle COVID-19.
$38 million will go towards helping communities with their pandemic plans, and $3 million will be directed to hiring extra staff at personal care homes.
Another $8 million will be set aside for on-reserve security, food, and supplies.
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says communities struggling the most will receive immediate help, while others will get funds for preventative measures.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The family of a WWII soldier from McCreary is sharing his last letter sent home.
Private Melvin C. Smith was 23-years-old when he died overseas on May 4, 1945 — just days before the end of the war.
He gave a letter to his sister two years prior, to give to his mother in the event he lost his life fighting for this country.
The letter reads:
Dear Mum and all: Just a line to let you know all is fine; am well, and hope this finds you all the same. Well Mum, here is my thought and what I think of fighting for Canada and also what I think of my home.
Let every Canadian fight to the last drop of blood in his body. Let him keep the golden fields and the busy streets clean and fresh and let him keep the air he breathes free from the stench of Nazism. I have no regrets of dying. Give this message to my friends and to the people of Canada if it is possible. I would like to thank you Mum and Dad for making my life a very happy one indeed, and for giving me every possible chance in life to make a success of it.
I have no regrets dying for my country; it is a grand country – any man who can call himself a Canadian should be proud to die in the struggle for freedom which I am sure Canada will always have. I am sure that our troops – the lucky ones – will march victorious through the streets of Berlin. I am proud of those brave lads of the Tank Corps with whom I had the honour to fight side by side.
So I will say goodbye and God bless you all. Love, your son, Mel.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
A construction site for a pea protein plant in Portage la Prairie has reported 5 cases of COVID-19.
Roquette Canada issued a news release on Monday, notifying the public that a construction worker contracted COVID-19 from a family member, and not at the site.
Four other workers were identified as close contacts after carpooling together, and three of them tested positive for COVID-19 while a fourth is waiting on test results.
The fifth confirmed case was a Roquette Canada Employee, according to the news release.
Roquette Canada says contract tracing was completed and found 20 other workers who possibly had close contact with the four COVID-positive workers, who have all been referred to Shared Health for possible testing.
The company says 850-1000 workers are on the construction site each day.
The pea protein plant located in Portage la Prairie is expected to begin operations by the end of the year.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
The entire province is being elevated to the red ‘critical’ level starting Thursday, November 12 — but that won’t be changing much at Manitoba’s K-12 schools.
Mountain View School Division (MVSD) superintendent Dan Ward explains schools have been instructed to carry on with the public health measures already in place.
“We’ve been told by the province that schools do remain at level orange,” says the MVSD Superintendent.
The MVSD will be suspending extracurriculars, including athletic activities.
“We have been assured for now that schools will remain open.”
Manitoba’s top health officials explained the decision to keep schools open — saying that schools are safe and the level of transmission in the classroom has been minimal across the province.
For more details on the red critical measures going into effect Thursday at 12:01 a.m. — click here.
Ward says any questions can be directed to your school principal, or directly to the Division office at 204-638-3001.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
A number of businesses will be operating with adjusted hours for the Remembrance Day holiday on Wednesday, November 11.
The Dauphin Marketplace Mall, Safeway, and Walmart are all open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Ken's No Frills is open on Remembrance Day from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Dauphin’s Co-op grocery store will be open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the stat holiday.
The Liquor Mart in Dauphin is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and reopens with regular hours on Thursday.
The post office is closed for Remembrance Day.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
As Manitoba’s case numbers continue to climb, the entire province is being moved to critical (red) on the Pandemic Response System.
This comes on a day where health officials are reporting 384 new cases of COVID-19, and 5 more deaths due to the virus. There have been a total of 114 deaths.
The province’s most recent deaths are 3 women, all over the age of 80, a man in his 70’s from Winnipeg, and a man in his 70’s from the Southern Health region.
Today’s data shows:
- 26 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
- 41 cases in the Northern health region;
- 18 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
- 83 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
- 216 cases in the Winnipeg health region.
There is a total of 8,878 cases province-wide, with 5,390 active and 3,374 recovered.
The following Parkland health districts have active cases: Swan River (9), Porcupine Mountain (3), Duck Mountain (2), Agassiz Mountain (1), Little Saskatchewan (6), Assessippi (6), Whitemud (14). Dauphin has 0 active cases while Brandon has 45.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern district has 72 active cases, and the Fisher/Peguis district has 192.
Health officials have identified a possible COVID exposure in Brandon at the Wheat City Medical Clinic on November 2nd from 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
There was also a potential exposure at Canadian Tire in Yorkton on November 6th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Anyone that was at these locations is advised to self-monitor for symptoms, and seek testing if symptoms do develop.
For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
A man is facing multiple weapons charges after a standoff in Sandy Bay First Nation.
On November 5th around 3:30 a.m., Manitoba First Nations Police officers responded to reports of a distraught man with a firearm inside a home with family members and children present.
Police responded to the home and set up a perimeter, and were able to locate the suspect and family. The female and her children were safe and unharmed.
Police seized a firearm and ammunition.
21-year-old Remington Robert Richard was taken into custody and is facing several weapons charges including unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm when knowing unauthorized, unsafe storage of a firearm, and failing to comply with condition on an undertaking.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
All of Manitoba will be moved to the critical red level on the Pandemic Response System starting Thursday.
Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin made the announcement today, making the move to halt COVID-19 transmission and to protect Manitoba’s most vulnerable citizens.
Dr. Roussin says the restrictions will be in effect for a minimum of 2 weeks.
The new Critical (red) level restrictions will be in effect province-wide and include:
- Social contacts reduced to your household only. Social gatherings are not permitted.
- Travel to and from northern Manitoba is restricted and non-essential travel is discouraged.
- Retail businesses listed as critical services, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, can remain open at 25 per cent capacity.
- Retail businesses not on the list are able to provide e-service, curbside pickup or delivery services.
- All personal service businesses, including hair salons, barbers and sites offering manicures, pedicures and other esthetic services, must close.
- Gyms and fitness centres must close.
- Religious and cultural gatherings must close or be provided virtually only.
- Restaurants must close to the public and may be open for delivery, drive-thru or takeout only.
- All recreational activities, sports facilities, casinos, museums, galleries, libraries, movie theatres and concert halls must close.
Why Is PMH Being Elevated To Red?
When asked why Prairie Mountain Health is also being elevated to red -- despite lower case numbers compared to the rest of the province -- Dr. Roussin cites the rising test positivity rate in all of Manitoba's health regions. Roussin also said the number of contacts per case is trending in the wrong direction.
"We have to do whatever we can right now to stop the climbing numbers."
In addition, no changes will be made to child-care services or to kindergarten to Grade 12 education delivery at this time. Roussin noted the province has not seen widespread transmission among children, students and staff.
Roussin says there are a number of things Manitobans can do themselves, to reduce the spread, that go beyond the restrictions put in place.
These include:
- Reduce the number of shoppers from your household to the lowest possible number. Send only one person to shop.
- Work from home if at all possible.
- Reduce travel unless absolutely essential.
- Remember all those you have come in contact with recently.
Fines for breaching or failing to comply with public health or emergency orders have recently been increased to $1,296 for individuals and $5,000 for corporations.
The province reminds Manitobans that compliance and enforcement issues can be reported by visiting and completing the reporting form at www.manitoba.ca/COVID19, or by calling 204-945-3744 or 1-866-626-4862 (toll-free) and pressing option three on the call menu.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
