NewsNow

A number of travel restrictions remain in effect for Manitobans as health officials say the measures are important to help ensure there are no big setbacks.

For the next set of public health orders, the Manitoba government is considering removing the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days for interprovincial travellers who travel for business reasons and do not have symptoms.

Health officials continue to discourage any non-essential travel, and require anyone entering Manitoba from outside of the province to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.

There are some exemptions for health care providers, emergency services personnel, and elected officials — as long as they’re not showing symptoms. Exemptions from the 14-day isolation are also in effect for those who live by provincial borders and who regularly travel into Manitoba to work, or attend an educational institution.

All travellers are strongly advised get two COVID-19 tests - one on the day of arrival, and another on the seventh day after arriving in Manitoba regardless of if they are displaying symptoms, and whether they are visiting Manitoba or are returning from out of the country.

Concerns Over Situation In Neighbouring Jurisdictions

Manitoba’s top doctor says the travel restrictions have a lot to do with the COVID situation in neighbouring provinces.

“This is the one area of our public health restrictions that don’t necessarily rely heavily on our own epidemiology — it relies on the epidemiology of the places around us,” says Dr. Brent Roussin.

As of Thursday, March 18, Saskatchewan health officials reported a total of 433 presumptive cases of variants of concern — with 368 of those in Regina. By comparison, the entire province of Manitoba on that same day has seen 76 variant cases in total.

Dr. Brent Roussin says the risk of variants of concern remains relatively low in Manitoba, adding “we’re taking a lot of precautions right now so we don’t get set back.”

 “We continue to advise against non-essential travel, we still have the self-isolation requirements for those who travel for non-essential purposes.”

Travel in Manitoba north of the 53rd parallel is also still restricted — with some exemptions

“We’re taking a lot of precautions right now so we don’t get set back.”

Details

Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Mar 21, 2021 - 6:59 am

Mountain View School Division’s (MVSD) Board Chair is voicing some of his concerns with the drastic overhaul of Manitoba’s education system announced by the provincial government this past week.

On Monday, Manitoba's Education Minister Cliff Cullen provided the details of Bill 64 — a piece of legislation presenting some dramatic changes to education in the province.

Part of Bill 64 would remove the role of school trustees, eliminating elected school boards in 37 school divisions and replacing them with one centralized board of appointees.

MVSD Board Chair Floyd Martens says going from the elected board to an appointed board is a huge shift with big implications.

“The ramifications of that are not fully understood,” he says, adding he finds it hard to envision how schools within local communities will have a greater voice when the decision making is turned over to this one appointed board within the province.”

“When you have unelected representatives, they’re not accountable to those who elected them, they’re accountable to who appointed them — and that changes every dynamic within the system.”

Floyd Martens is Chairperson of the MVSD Board of Trustees | Photo courtesy of MVSD.ca

Martens discussed other problems he sees with Bill 64.

“The legislation has a host of issues with it that we’re just beginning to unravel. Obviously, it’s huge in its scope. It takes a number of Acts that have existed for decades and decades and rewrites them pretty much in their entirety. It creates lots of challenges for the system as we try and navigate what this means over the next several months.”

Martens says the first thing parents should know is the MVSD Board of Trustees is still in place making decisions and working with their communities "for as long as we are able to be."

A comprehensive review of Manitoba’s education system was launched in January 2019, with a Commission drawing 75 recommendations to improve education in Manitoba — a province that spends among the highest in the country on education but posts among the lowest student achievement results.

Martens says Bill 64 ignores some of the key recommendations from the K-12 review, for example, the recommendation there be somewhere between 6 and 8 school boards that would be elected and appointed. 

“That recommendation was not included in Bill 64.”

As for a timeline, Martens says the legislation, Bill 64, has school boards not existing as of July 1, 2022 — at which point there will be one school board for most of Manitoba, and one school board for Francophone schools in the province.

“This is a big issue. There will be lots more discussion with the community in the days and weeks to come. As a Board, we meet on Monday and will talk more about how we respond and move forward from this point, and how the community can be engaged and so on. So stay tuned for those messages.”

Martens says that parents and community members should know this is a piece of legislation, so there is an opportunity to speak to it, "whether it’s to write submissions. Whether it’s to write to those who are making decisions in the legislature — our MLAs. I encourage our communities to do that."

Details

Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Mar 21, 2021 - 5:47 am

The eligibility criteria for the COVID19 vaccine has been expanded to include Manitobansaged 69 years of age and older and First Nations people aged 49 years of age and older.

Today 93 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death were announced in Manitoba, a man in his 30s from the Northern Health Region.

No new cases of variants of concern have been identified today, but one case previously identified as a B.1.1.7. variant of concern case as a B.1.351 variant of concern case.

The total number of variant cases of concern in the province is 76.

Today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the following health regions:
• one case in the Interlake–Eastern health region
• 29 cases in the Northern health region
• 14 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• 10 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 39 cases in the Winnipeg health region

There have been a total number of 33,176 cases identified and 919 deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4.7 per cent provincially and 3.5 per cent in Winnipeg.

There are 1,127 active cases and 31,130 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

There are 58 people in hospital with active COVID-19 and 78 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 136 hospitalizations.

There are 10 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 11 people with COVID-19 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 (9), Porcupine Mountain (11), Asessippi (3), and Little Saskatchewan (3). Brandon has 7 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has zero active cases, and the Fisher/Peguis health district has five.

Details

Contributed by 730 CKDM

Published: Mar 19, 2021 - 12:55 pm

Police are looking for a suspect after the attempted armed robbery of a 71-year-old man in Ste. Rose this week.

On Thursday, March 18 around noon, Ste. Rose RCMP were informed a 71-year-old man was shopping at a business on Central Avenue in Ste. Rose du Lac, and returned to his vehicle when an unknown male opened his door.

The male suspect was holding a firearm, and threatened the victim telling him to get out of the vehicle.

The victim managed to push the suspect away, and the suspect then took off on foot.

The suspect is described as Indigenous, 22-25 years of age, approximately 5’4”, 150 lbs with brown eyes and short dark hair. He was wearing a black sweater, black pants and a black face mask.

If you witnessed this incident or have any information please call Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP at 204-447-2513 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at Manitoba Crime Stoppers.

Details

Contributed by 730 CKDM

Published: Mar 19, 2021 - 12:33 pm

The limited number of appointments at Dauphin’s pop-up clinic filled up quickly, but officials say there are plans to bring the pop-up clinic back on a regular basis.

When the pop-up clinics were first announced on Wednesday, March 10th, the province announced the phone lines to book appointments would open the following morning at 6 a.m.

By the weekend, the Dauphin pop-up at 8th Avenue Hall was fully booked says Glenda Short, Regional Lead Community and Continuing Care with Prairie Mountain Health.

Short says anyone unable to book an appointment this time around should get another opportunity soon.

“We are looking to come back to Dauphin on a regular basis and are hoping we can announce those dates in the near future,” says Short.

Short says the Moderna vaccine is being used at the pop-ups, while mainly Pfizer is given out at the supersites. AstraZeneca has been shipped to pharmacies and medical clinics for use in a special at-risk segment of the population.

The first round of pop-up clinics in Prairie Mountain Health are setting up in Dauphin on March 18th and 19th — and in Swan River on March 24th and 25th.

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.

The eligibility criteria for the COVID vaccine in Manitoba expands almost every day — on Thursday is was expanded to include individuals 71 years of age and older, and First Nations people 51 years of age and older.

Eligible Manitobans can also call the provincial phone line to book appointments at the supersites in Brandon, Winnipeg, Thompson, and Selkirk.

Details

Contributed by Matt Hamel

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 7:15 pm

Pine Creek First Nation has declared a state of emergency after a large-scale exposure to COVID-19 in the community.

The lockdown went into effect at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17^th, after health and nursing staff were made aware of the exposure within the Minegoziibe Anishinaabe School.

Pine Creek First Nation Chief and Council sent out a press release Thursday, asking that all parents and students that attended the school on March 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th contact the Pine Creek Health Centre.

During the lockdown, no members are allowed to enter or leave the community, with the exception of medical emergencies, and those that have to leave for work.

Members not in isolation will have to abide by a curfew, not leaving the community before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

Residents must follow designated shopping days set for March 19^th, 24^th, and 29^th. Residents must use those days to gather only necessities, like groceries and mail.

The lockdown will remain in effect until March 29^th, at which point it will be reassessed.

Chief and Council will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.

Details

Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 5:03 pm

Today 91 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death were announced in Manitoba.

Public health officials are announcing 11 additional confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7. COVID-19 variant of concern first identified in the United Kingdom. Out of these cases, nine are from the Winnipeg Health Region, and two are from the Southern Health Region.  

One confirmed case of the B.1.351 COVID-19 variant of concern first identified in South Africa has been detected in the Prairie Mountain Health region today.

The total number of variant cases of concern in the province is 76.

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

There have been a total number of 33,085 cases identified and 918 deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4.7 per cent provincially and 3.6 per cent in Winnipeg.

There are 1,089 active cases and 31,078 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

There are 60 people in hospital with active COVID-19 and 86 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 146 hospitalizations.

There are 11 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 12 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 23 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 (4), Porcupine Mountain (4), Asessippi (3), and Little Saskatchewan (4). Brandon has 8 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has zero active cases, and the Fisher/Peguis health district has five.

Details

Contributed by 730 CKDM

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 1:07 pm

The Manitoba government is looking for feedback on the possible relaxation of health restrictions.

The current set of public health orders is due for an update on Friday, March 26^th.

The province has released another online survey for Manitobans to provide their feedback on the potential easing of restrictions.

Possible changes to the COVID-19 restrictions include:

• Increasing outside gathering limits
• Expanding capacity at retail stores and religious services
• Expanding indoor restaurant dining criteria to include a household and their designated visitors
• Allowing organized team games at indoor sporting facilities
• Removing the requirement that youth must wear a mask while taking part in indoor sporting activities, such as hockey or soccer
• Enabling indoor theatres, indoor concert halls, casino and gaming centres to open at limited capacity levels
• Removing the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days for interprovincial/domestic travellers who travel for business reasons and do not have symptoms

Premier Brian Pallister says the province is now in a position to consider moving Manitoba to level orange, or restricted,  on the pandemic response system.

You can read the full list of proposed changes by the province here.

If you'd like to provide feedback on the restrictions, you can find the survey here.

Details

Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 11:51 am

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2034 has called off its general strike.

The union that represents over 2,300 Manitoba Hydro workers announced on Wednesday that all of its members would be on strike as of midnight on Thursday, March 18th.

The union says a final contract offer came in early Thursday morning, and members are set to hold a vote before going ahead with the strike.

Some front-line Hydro workers began striking last week.

Members set up a picket line outside of Dauphin’s Manitoba Hydro building on Friday.

Details

Contributed by Tess Kovach

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 11:00 am

Canadian-US border restrictions are being extended until April 21st.

United States officials made the announcement over Twitter yesterday that restrictions for non-essential travel will not be lifted for at least another month.

The announcement comes days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it’s too early to reopen the border, and that it isn’t an immediate priority.

The border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 21^st 2020.

Details

Contributed by 730 CKDM

Published: Mar 18, 2021 - 9:20 am