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For the second straight day, there were no new cases of COVID-19 identified in the Prairie Mountain Health region.
Health officials announced 58 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, with all but nine of those cases coming from Winnipeg and Manitoba’s north.
Two deaths due to COVID were also announced — a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, and a man in his 70s from Southern Health linked to an outbreak at a Niverville personal care home.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.3% provincially and 4.1% in Winnipeg. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 31,386.
Today’s new COVID-19 cases are from the following health regions:
• four cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
• 25 cases in the Northern health region
• zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• five cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 24 cases in the Winnipeg health region
The provincial data shows 1,180 active cases and 29,322 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 77 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 131 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care (208 hospitalizations total).
There are 13 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 18 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care (31 ICU patients total).
The total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 884.
Public Health say the total number of confirmed variant of concern cases is four.
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (1) and Asessippi (7). Brandon has 10 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 9.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba is expected to begin opening up vaccine appointments to the general public this week.
So far, the provincial call centre has only been accepting appointments for Manitobans in specific job categories.
The plan to begin immunizing the general public will start with people aged 95 and older.
Medical lead on the province's COVID-19 vaccine implementation task force, Dr. Joss Reimer, says immunizations will also open up to First Nations people age 75 and older in the first phase of immunizing the general public.
Reimer explains the age requirement has been set lower for First Nations people because of more severe COVID-outcomes being observed in this population.
“There's almost a 20-year discrepancy in the average age of death between a First Nations person with COVID compared to all other Manitobans with COVID,” Reimer said on Friday.
Reimer stressed that the phone lines are not open yet to the general public, and says she will provide an update this week.
“I want to reiterate that Manitobans over 95 are not eligible today, please do not call to book an appointment [yet]. But I will let you know ... when that changes.”
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
A Roblin RCMP officer is waiting for a new trial date in connection to assault charges laid in 2019.
RCMP received information in December of 2018 that alleged a woman was the victim of assault, and that the alleged offender was a Roblin RCMP officer.
The charges are in relation to several off duty incidents that occurred in 2017 and 2018 in the RM of Roblin.
A 12-year member of the RCMP, Jason Kitzul, is charged with assault, assault with a weapon, and impaired driving.
He will return to court on March 18th.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
Manitoba health officials announced 95 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths today, all from the Winnipeg health region.
Today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the following health regions:
• three cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
• 59 cases in the Northern health region
• zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• two cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 31 cases in the Winnipeg health region
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.3 percent provincially and four percent in Winnipeg.
The total number of COVID-19 cases identified in Manitoba since the start of the pandemic is 31,329. There have been 882 deaths due to the virus.
The number of COVID-19 variants found in the province remains at 4.
There are 1,207 active cases and 29,240 people have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 79 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 127 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 206 hospitalizations.
There are 16 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 15 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 31 ICU patients.
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (1) and Asessippi (8). Brandon has 12 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 19.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The Dauphin Fire Department was on the scene of an early morning structure fire on Saturday.
Crews responded to the fire on Jackson Street at around 6:30 a.m. where they found heavy smoke and flames coming from the roof of a mobile home.
The owner of the home was able to escape safely but told firefighters his pet may have ran back inside.
Crews located the pet safe outside the home and extinguished the fire. There are no injuries or estimates on damages at this time.
The department says the fire appears to be accidental and electrical in nature.
Crews stayed on scene until 10 a.m. to ensure the fire was completely out.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The message was positive at Dauphin’s Countryfest Annual General Meeting (AGM) this past Thursday.
Despite the cancellation of the 2020 festival due to COVID, organizers are hopeful for the future.
Rob Waloschuk, the general manager of Canada’s longest-running country music festival, says it wasn’t a great year in light of the cancellation — but the AGM revealed it wasn’t as bad as they thought.
“We took advantage of a lot of government programs and things like that and did some cost-cutting. We were able to weather through 2020 and look forward to trying to host something going forward.”
One of the positives coming out of 2020 was the ticket holders who rolled over their tickets until the next festival.
“The support of our ticket holders and especially our Countryfest Members who have stuck with us through this has been phenomenal,” said Waloschuk, “we could not have done it without this support.”
The 2020 AGM also saw the addition of two new Directors to the Countryfest Board. Colette Hykawy and Ron Hedley will join volunteer Directors Carissa Caruk-Ganczar, Clayton Carefoot, Stephen Chychota, Ron Love, Chad McCrady, Duane McMaster, Lisa Saunders, Wayne Steiner, Jamie Van Beukenhout and Dean Yerama.
Looking Ahead To The Next Festival
The Dauphin’s Countryfest general manager confirms they’re planning to do something this year, but says it will take some time before organizers know what that would look like.
Waloschuk says he’s confident something will happen this summer.
“We’re still here, we’re still surviving, and we’re going to be presenting entertainment to people for years to come.”
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
After posting the highest daily increase in cases since January on Thursday, Manitoba was back to double digits on Friday with 92 new cases of COVID-19.
Three of the new cases are the B.117 COVID variant. There have now been a total of four cases of COVID "variants of concern" identified in Manitoba.
The cases are all related to international travel and the individuals have since recovered.
Dr. Jazz Atwal says it is expected that the province will see more variants of concern, and that these cases serve as a reminder to continue following public health orders and advice.
Two deaths are also being reported in Manitoba’s latest COVID update — two individuals from the Winnipeg region over the age of 80.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.7% provincially and 4.2% in Winnipeg. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 31,235.
Today’s new COVID-19 cases are from the following health districts:
• two cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
• 50 cases in the Northern health region
• three cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• two cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 35 cases in the Winnipeg health region
There are 1,169 active cases and 29,187 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 80 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 133 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care (213 hospitalizations total).
There are 12 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 15 people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care (27 ICU patients total).
The total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 879.
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (1), Swan River (0), Duck Mountain (0), and Asessippi (9). Brandon has 11 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 2 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 10.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
For the second time this week, a street in Dauphin will be closed for a water main break.
Edward Ave. between Mountain Road and Bond St. will close at 7 a.m. for crews to make repairs.
The City says to be prepared to detour.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Habitat For Humanity’s Coldest Night Of The Year (CNOY) walk is going virtual this year.
Instead of the typical 2-5km group walk, Event Director Nancy Tregunna says participants will do their walk individually.
“So instead of actually holding the event on the 20th what we’re doing is asking people to walk virtually anytime up until the 21st. So they would continue to do their fundraising. We just ask to do their walking when it’s suitable for them.”
The organization is aiming to raise $20,000 by Feb. 20th.
Every participant will receive a CNOY button, and toques will be handed out to youth that raise $75, and adults who raise $150.
Toque and button pick-up can be arranged at any time, or you can visit Parkland Crossing on Feb. 20 between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
To register for the walk, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Thieves broke into a Portage la Prairie pharmacy earlier this week and stole a variety of narcotics police are calling dangerous.
RCMP were notified of the break-in on Wednesday morning, and say the suspects entered the Portage pharmacy overnight and disabled the alarm system.
Police released this image of the pharmacy door the morning after the break-in | courtesy RCMP
A variety of narcotics were stolen from a safe, including hydromorphone, fentanyl, and oxycodone.
Police say these drugs are dangerous and can cause a lot of harm when not prescribed by and used under the care of a doctor.
Any information can be directed to Portage RCMP at 204-857-4445, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
Manitoba RCMP say three men have died following a head-on collision near Arborg on Thursday morning.
Police responded to the collision on Highway 7 around 6:30 a.m., about seven kilometres south of Arborg.
The investigation determined that a southbound car collided head-on with a car travelling northbound.
The northbound vehicle had one occupant — a 53-year-old woman from the RM of Armstrong — who received serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to hospital.
The southbound vehicle had three occupants who were all pronounced dead on scene.
Two of the men are 23-year-olds from Winnipeg, the third has not yet been identified.
Alcohol is not considered a factor in the collision, and the investigation continues.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
