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Canada has approved its fourth COVID-19 vaccine.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved by Health Canada today; it’s the countries only COVID vaccine that promises 85% protection from severe illness with a single dose.
The newly approved vaccine has less strict storage requirements than some of its competitors, requiring refrigeration rather than ultra-cold freezing.
Canada has secured 10 million shots of the vaccine and has plans to order up to 28 million more.
The first doses are expected to arrive in September.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Manitoba has relaxed more public health restrictions as of 12:01 a.m. this morning.
Nearly all Manitoba businesses are now clear to open — but indoor theatres, concert halls, casinos and bingo halls will still have to remain closed for now.
Under the new orders, Manitoba households have the option of continuing to designate two visitors to their home, or choosing to designate a second household who can visit with each other.
Starting today, capacity limits are being increased at restaurants, retail stores, malls and personal services to 50% or 250 people, whichever is lower. Restaurants in Manitoba must continue enforcing the one-household per table rule under the updated orders.
Places of worship can increase their capacity limit to 25% or 100 people, whichever is lower.
Gatherings sizes at outdoor places will be increased to 10.
Businesses other than casinos may resume operating video lottery terminals (VLTs) with physical distancing and barriers in place.
Recreation & Fitness Facilities
The province is also relaxing some of the rules for recreation and fitness facilities.
Indoor recreation and sporting facilities such as pools, fitness centres, rinks, courts and ranges can open at 25% total capacity.
But with the relaxed restrictions, not all recreation facilities in the province are ready to open right away. Dauphin Rec Services say they’re working on a plan to reschedule postponed fall swimming lessons as they slowly re-open the Kinsmen Aquatic Centre.
Dauphin Rec is keeping the ice in at Credit Union Place. Provincial rules currently allow teams to run practices and drills, but organized games are not allowed at this time.
Ice sessions are open for booking but the number of available slots is limited.
The Town of Swan River reported yesterday that opening their recreation facilities “is not practical at this time” with the strenuous reopening requirements and extra costs associated with the new provincial guidelines.
The Town’s CAO Derek Poole thanked residents for their patience and understanding as they begin working through the process of making facilities available to the public.
The entire province remains under code red under the new public health orders.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The man considered Canada’s ultimate hockey dad has died.
Walter Gretzky was 82.
His son, the Great One, announced his father’s passing late last night in a post on Twitter.
— Wayne Gretzky (@WayneGretzky) March 5, 2021
In the online tribute, Wayne says his father “truly was the Great One and the proudest Canadian we know”.
Walter Gretzky battled Parkinson’s and other health issues in recent years.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Parkland remains under a fog advisory on Friday morning.
Environment Canada says the near-zero visibility is occurring over some areas.
They say the combination of clear skies, light winds and melting snow create ideal conditions for fog development.
Conditions in most areas are expected to improve later this morning, but the reduced visibility could continue into the early afternoon.
Officials are urging those in the affected areas to drive according to the conditions, and use a safe following distance.
Along with the reduced visibility, slick and slippery roads are also being reported in some areas.
Widespread fog is not expected again Friday night due to strengthening southerly winds across the eastern prairies.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Dauphin Fire Department (DFD) spent 11 hours on the scene of yesterday's house fire to ensure the blaze was fully extinguished.
Crews first responded to the scene around 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
The fire was across the street from the DRCSS at Mountain Road and Kerr Avenue, which led to Mountain View School Division to close the school and move classes online due to smoke accumulation in the building.
The Dauphin high school will reopen today for regular classes after a notice sent out by the Division states the air quality has returned to normal in the school.
Fire crews on the scene this morning shortly after 6 a.m.
The DFD says the home was vacant at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries.
The cause is still under investigation.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
For the second day in a row, Manitoba has reported 51 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths.
The two deaths include a woman in her 90’s from Winnipeg and a woman in her 20’s from Winnipeg. Health officials have not confirmed whether or not the 20-year-old woman had any underlying health issues.
Today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the following health regions:
• zero cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
• 26 cases in the Northern health region
• zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• three cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 22 cases in the Winnipeg health region
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 3.2 percent provincially and 2.6 percent in Winnipeg.
There have been a total of 32,051 cases province-wide. The total number of deaths is 903.
There are 1,143 active cases and 30,005 people who have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 62 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 119 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 181 hospitalizations.
Nine people are in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 15 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 24 ICU patients.
According to the province’s data, there are active cases of COVID-19 in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (0), Riding Mountain (0), Duck Mountain (2), Porcupine Mountain (2) and Asessippi (4). Brandon has 1 active case.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 7.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Reports from community members in Winnipegosis say demolition work has begun on the Winnipegosis grain elevator.
Photos shared on social media on Thursday morning show crews and heavy equipment on the site.
President of the Manitoba Historical Society Dr. Gordon Goldsborough told CKDM late last year there are about 130 grain elevators left in the province, down from over 700 that used to be standing in Manitoba.
The Winnipegosis grain elevator is privately owned, and municipal staff were unable to confirm any details about the demolition.
Photo courtesy of the Manitoba Historical Society
The elevator was built in 1950.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
Near-zero visibility is being reported in parts of the Parkland Thursday morning, as the region is under a fog advisory.
Environment Canada says the combination of clear skies, light winds and melting snow created ideal conditions for fog development overnight.
Widespread reports of drastically reduced visibility is prompting reminders to be extra careful on the roads this morning, and to use a safe following distance.
The fog is expected to dissipate toward midday but will likely develop over the region tonight into Friday morning.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba officials have extended the province-wide state of emergency for another month.
The extension went into effect at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 and will last for another 30 days.
Manitoba has been under a state of emergency since March 20, 2020, in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
RCMP have arrested three people in relation to a homicide in Russell in August of 2019.
On March 1st, RCMP arrested two men and a woman from the Gambler First Nation in connection to the death of 40-year-old Matthew Swain.
Back in August of 2019, Russell RCMP received a report of an assault on Highway 16 near the Russell airport. Swain was transported to hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.
29-year-old Desmond Tanner was charged with 2nd-degree murder and 34-year-old Robert Fleury was charged with manslaughter.
A 24-year-old woman was released from custody without charges.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Manitobans received a significant update on Wednesday regarding the province’s vaccination campaign.
Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba's vaccine task force, says the province expects to start receiving doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by mid-March.
The AstraZeneca jab will first be put to use for at-risk Manitobans age 50 to 64.
Some experts say there isn’t enough data available at this time on the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those over the age of 65.
Reimer says the newly approved vaccine will not be given to any Manitobans over the age of 65, but suggests that could change as more data becomes available.
Manitoba’s vaccine task force will now be extending the period of time between the first and second dose in an effort to get more people some level of protection as soon as possible.
Data from some other counties, such as Scotland and Israel, suggests a single dose of an mRNA-based vaccine could be 70% to 80% effective in preventing infection.
With three vaccines now approved for use in Canada, and possibly a fourth on the way with Johnson and Johnson's option, it's still unclear how effective the vaccines are against new COVID variants.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
