90 Cases Linked To COVID Outbreaks At Yorkton Hospital

Two outbreaks at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre have resulted in 90 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday.

The first outbreak was declared on Jan. 17 in the intensive-care unit, followed by a second outbreak in the inpatient medical units declared on Jan. 19.

The hospital’s interim director of acute care says anyone requiring health services at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre should still feel confident about coming to the facility.

On Thursday and Friday, hospital staff are scheduled to receive some doses of the COVID vaccine.

Details: Contributed by 730 CKDM; Published: Feb 4, 2021 - 1:57 pm

Public health officials have announced 110 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths.

Earlier today, Premier Brian Pallister and Dr Brent Roussin identified a list of proposed changes to the public health restrictions.

The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate continues to improve and is at 6.7% provincially and 3.6% in Winnipeg.

Today’s COVID-19 data shows:

39 cases in the Northern health region
33 cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
seven cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
five cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
26 cases in the Winnipeg health region

According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (1), Riding Mountain (1), Porcupine Mountain (48, down from 49), Duck Mountain (1), Asessippi (13), Little Saskatchewan (7, down from 8), Whitemud (2, up from 1), and Agassiz Mountain (10). Brandon has 27 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 70 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 71.

The outbreak at the Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon has been declared over.

The total number of cases in Manitoba is 29,968.

The provincial data shows 3,340 active cases and 25,791 recoveries.

The total number of deaths is 837.

264 people are in hospital due to the virus, 109 have active COVID-19 and 155 people are in hospital with COVID-19 but aren’t infectious but continue to require care.

There are 20 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 16 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care for a total of 36 ICU patients.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Feb 4, 2021 - 12:52 pm

The Manitoba government has released a list of restrictions that could be relaxed in the next public health orders, and are asking for feedback on those proposed changes.

On Thursday morning, Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin announced what’s currently being considered for the next set of public health orders that are due next Friday:

• allowing food services, including restaurants and lounges, to reopen at 25 per cent capacity with closure time of 10 p.m., limited to patron groups of household members

• allowing personal services, including nail salons and tattoo parlours, to reopen at 25 per cent capacity with adequate physical distancing, enhanced personal protective equipment measures and requirements to collect information for contact tracing purposes

• allowing gyms to reopen at 25 per cent capacity for one-on-one and individual training sessions with adequate physical distancing, with no group classes

• allowing places of worship to reopen at a maximum of 10 per cent capacity or 50 people, whichever is lower

Other Restrictions Under Consideration

• allowing libraries to reopen at a maximum of 25 per cent capacity, limited to patron groups of household members
• allowing organized outdoor sports to resume for games or practices (no multi-team tournaments)
• clarifying that addictions support and treatment groups can operate with adequate physical distancing measures in place
• allowing the film industry to resume work, with safety protocols in place
• opening public washroom facilities with 25 per cent capacity and enhanced signage
• increasing capacity for weddings to up to 10 people in addition to the officiant and photographer
• allowing photographers to resume operations outdoors and with studio capacity limited to patron groups of household members only

Dr. Rousin says the proposed changes would have the entire province remain in code red — “which highlights the actual level of risk we’re in. We have yet to get an adequate supply of vaccine, and we’re under threat of the new variants.”

“So our numbers certainly allow this continued cautious approach to reopening, but we’re still at a critical juncture moving forward,” Roussin said.

What won’t be changing in the new health orders next Friday?

It appears the province will not change the rules on gathering sizes for the time being. Currently, the restrictions on household visitors allow up to two designated people, while visits of five people plus members of a household are permitted on outdoor private property.

The province is asking for feedback on the proposed changes, which would come into effect next week to replace the current public health orders that expire at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 12.

To provide input, visit EngageMB.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Feb 4, 2021 - 12:18 pm

Just after 4 a.m. this morning, the special weather statement ended.

The statement called for an intense band of flurries to track across southern Manitoba yesterday evening.

Periods of brief but intense snowfall were expected in the affected areas.

Local snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 centimetres were forecasted to fall overnight under the band of snow.

The cold front will usher in a period of frigid temperatures that will persist well into next week.

Details: Contributed by 730 CKDM; Published: Feb 4, 2021 - 5:10 am

A Dauphin man was in court again after being arrested in the summer in connection to a fatal stabbing.

Nicholas Ryan-McKinnon is being charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

The 23-year-old has been remanded in custody to February 23^rd.

On August 15^th, officers responded to a fatal stabbing. A 32-year-old man was dead in the home, and an 18-year-old man was injured and taken to hospital but was later released.

Ryan-McKinnon was later arrested by Whitehorse RCMP a few days later.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Feb 3, 2021 - 12:58 pm

Public health officials reported 126 new cases of COVID-19 today and 3 more deaths.

The three deaths include two women from Winnipeg and a woman from the Southern Health region.

Today’s new cases of COVID-19 are in the following health regions:
• 24 cases in Interlake–Eastern health region
• 55 cases in the Northern health region
• seven cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• eight cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 32 cases in the Winnipeg health region

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 6.9 percent provincially and 3.9 percent in Winnipeg.

Manitoba has a total of 29,857 cases province-wide. The total number of deaths is 835.

Of Manitoba’s cases, 3,358 are active cases and 25 people have recovered from COVID-19.

There are 105 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 155 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 260 hospitalizations.

There are 22 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 and 12 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 34 ICU patients.

According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (1), Riding Mountain (1), Porcupine Mountain (49), Duck Mountain (1), Asessippi (13), Little Saskatchewan (8), Whitemud (1), and Agassiz Mountain (10). Brandon has 30 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 70 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 76.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Feb 3, 2021 - 12:46 pm

The province is aiming to give 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots per day from April to June.

This all hinges on the vaccine supply, but that would amount to 1.5 million doses over the three month period.

The plan laid out by the province today states 70% of the daily doses will come from the vaccine supersites, 25% will come from doctors and pharmacists, and the last 5% will be delivered by pop-up clinics.

On February 8^th, the Thompson Vaxport supersite will open, joining the supersites already in place at the Thompson Regional Community Centre, Brandon’s Keystone Centre, and in Winnipeg at the convention centre.

As early as March 1^st, another three supersites will be launched, in the Interlake-Eastern health region, Southern Health region, and another one in Winnipeg. Five additional supersites are being planned for April, but the locations of those sites are still to be determined with regional health authorities.

Next week on Monday, February 8^th, Flin Flon and The Pas are opening pop-up vaccine clinics, while Churchill, Gillam, Grand Rapids, Leaf Rapids, and Lynn Lake will open pop-up clinics soon.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Feb 3, 2021 - 12:21 pm

Layoffs at WestJet have affected a number of workers in Manitoba.

Roughly 110 WestJet employees in Winnipeg and Brandon have been laid off as the airline switches to a contractor for customer service and ground handling positions.

In June, the Calgary-based company announced 3,333 workers would be laid off across the country due to business challenges during the COVID pandemic.

The permanent layoffs announced in Manitoba are expected to take effect in the coming days.

Details: Contributed by 730 CKDM; Published: Feb 3, 2021 - 11:00 am

RCMP have laid charges after conducting a search warrant on Peguis First Nation.

On Sunday, Jan. 31 at around 7:55 a.m. Fisher Branch RCMP searched a home on Peguis First Nation where they seized two firearms, about 16 grams of cocaine, cash, and gang paraphernalia.

A 36-year-old man has been arrested and is facing drug and weapon charges.

He will appear in court on April 20^th.