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Early this morning just after 2:30 a.m., the Dauphin Fire Department was dispatched to a home on Jackson Street, in Dauphin, due to an unknown fire.
Upon arrival, they found the neighbour of the caller was burning old papers on their deck and there was no actual fire.
The DFD recommends using a shredder to dispose of old letters instead of using a lighter.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The second round of rebate cheques from Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) are in the mail.
The rebates should be around $100 for the average policyholder.
A portion of premiums are being returned through this rebate due to lower than expected claims during the pandemic.
It's expected the rebate cheques will take about four weeks before they arrive in the mail.
MPI issued it's the first round of rebate cheques back in May of 2020.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
Health officials are reporting 10 more deaths due to COVID-19 and 176 new cases today.
All but two of the deaths are in the Winnipeg region, including a man in his 70’s from the Interlake health region and a woman in her 40’s from the Northern health region.
Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
- 11 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region
- 31 cases in the Northern health region
- 12 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
- 13 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region and
- 109 cases in the Winnipeg health region
Of Manitoba’s 25,541 cases, 4,460 are active and 20,376 people have recovered.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.4 percent provincially and 11.5 percent in Winnipeg.
There are 237 people in hospital in hospital with active COVID-19 and 92 people in hospital that are no longer infectious but still require care. (329 total hospitalizations)
There are 32 people in intensive care with active COVID-19 and 5 who are no longer infectious but still need critical care. (37 total ICU patients)
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 705.
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (6), Riding Mountain (3), Swan River (2), Porcupine Mountain (76, down from 90), Duck Mountain (2), Asessippi (5), Little Saskatchewan (5), Whitemud (2), and Agassiz Mountain (12, up from 7). Brandon has 31 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 45 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 44.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The province has announced a plan to immunize all Manitoba care home residents against COVID-19.
Premier Brian Pallister made the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday, saying all eligible care home residents will be provided with the first dose of the vaccine over a 28-day campaign.
Pallister says every eligible care home resident will have received both doses by early March.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require a 2nd dose about a month after the first to provide optimal protection against the virus.
Care home immunizations in Manitoba will begin on Monday, Jan. 11 at seven locations across the province, including one in Prairie Mountain Health at Hillcrest Place in Brandon.
Next week, the province says the immunization schedule will be released for all remaining PCHs in Manitoba.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to healthcare in 2020.
Looking back on the regional health authority’s response to the first 10 months of COVID-19, Prairie Mountain Health CEO Penny Gilson feels they’ve done pretty well overall managing the pandemic.
She highlighted the establishment of contact tracing, testing sites, and distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) across such a large geographical area.
Gilson acknowledged the hard work of healthcare staff who have had to change schedules, work overtime, and be redeployed to other areas, “all the while dealing with their own personal pressures we all have faced to some degree during the pandemic.”
“The biggest challenge was for the healthcare staff, but also the biggest success was the staff that did what needed to be done,” said Gilson.
Looking Ahead To 2021
The issue of staffing shortages, particularly in smaller rural communities, will remain a focal point in the year ahead. Staffing shortages have led to the suspension of services at several rural health centres in 2020.
Gilson says PMH needs to be relentless in their recruitment and retention initiatives at the regional level to address staffing shortages.
“I’d say the biggest challenge is in these smaller rural communities … it’s going to take work from a lot of different parties.”
She says prior to the pandemic, Shared Health had been working to address the issue by taking the lead on the development and implementation of a human resource plan.
“Hopefully on the other side of the COVID we can get back to doing that necessary work — and a robust health human resource plan is apart of that.”
Gilson highlights PMH’s use of local training programs, adding that “people who have roots here are more likely to stay in a rural community.” She says PMH meets with any and all students in the healthcare field to make them aware of the opportunities across Prairie Mountain.
“Hopefully if everybody works together we’ll see more stability in the years ahead.”
Gilson To Retire From CEO Role In April
Penny Gilson is stepping down as CEO of Prairie Mountain Health in April 2021 -- after over 20 years in the role.
"It’s time for me to take a step back and let someone else come in and see what that future brings.”
She says it feels like the right time for her, and tells CKDM she’s looking forward to spending time with friends and family — once public health orders enable her to do so — and is also excited about a new granddaughter added to the family in November.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Health officials announced 130 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, and 7 deaths.
The deaths include six individuals from Winnipeg, and one from the Southern health region. Four of the 7 are linked to care home outbreaks.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.7% provincially and 11.5% in Winnipeg.
Manitoba's test positivity rate has improved slightly as of late | Graphic courtesy of the Manitoba Government
The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 25,374.
There are 4,427 active cases and 20,252 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 243 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 96 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care (339 hospitalizations in total).
Thirty-five Manitobans are in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as five people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care (40 ICU patients total).
The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 695.
Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
• 17 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region
• 19 cases in the Northern health region
• nine cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• eight cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 77 cases in the Winnipeg health region
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (7), Riding Mountain (4), Swan River (3), Porcupine Mountain (90), Duck Mountain (2), Asessippi (5), Little Saskatchewan (5), and Agassiz Mountain (7). Brandon has 31 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 45 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 43.
Safely Enjoying The Outdoors
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, clarified that Manitobans are not required to wear a mask when enjoying the outdoors.
However, public health advice does encourage mask-wearing whenever possible.
“I think hand-washing and wearing a mask whenever you can is good advice,” said Roussin.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
A total of 55 tickets were issued to Manitobans last week for breaking COVID-19 guidelines.
From Dec. 28 to Jan. 3 -- $65,292 in fines were given out across the province.
Forty-one of the 55 tickets were handed out at private gatherings. 11 of the tickets were issued at two Winnipeg parties.
Six fines were issued for not wearing a mask in an indoor public place.
Fines are currently set at $5,000 for businesses, $1,279 for individuals, and $298 for not wearing a mask.
Since enforcement began in April, a total of 1,962 warnings and 672 tickets have been issued, resulting in more than $984,000 in fines to businesses and individuals.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Premier Brian Pallister has announced his cabinet shuffle. Some highlights include a new health minister, a second health minister, and Manitoba's first Black cabinet minister.
Six Ministers have received new responsibilities.
Kelvin Goertzen has gone from education minister to the deputy premier and minister of legislative and public affairs.
Heather Stefanson, who was the deputy premier and families minister is now the minister of health and seniors care.
Cameron Friesen is changing from health, seniors, and active living minister to the justice minister and attorney general.
Former justice minister and attorney general Cliff Cullen is now the education minister.
Ralph Eichler, who was the minister of economic development and training is now the minister of economic development and jobs.
Rochelle Squires, who was the minister of municipal relations and francophone affairs is now the minister of families and francophone affairs.
Three new ministers have been appointed.
Wayne Ewasko has been appointed the minister of advanced education, skills and immigration.
Derek Johnson has been appointed the minister of municipal relations.
Finally, Audrey Gordon has been appointed the minister of mental health, wellness, and recovery. After making history as the first Black MLA, she is now Manitoba’s first Black cabinet minister.
There’s also a number of ministers keeping their responsibilities:
- Ron Schuler – minister of infrastructure
- Blaine Pedersen – minister of agriculture and resource development
- Eileen Clarke – minister of Indigenous and northern relations
- Cathy Cox – minister of sports, culture and heritage and minister responsible for the status of women
- Scott Fielding – minister of finance
- Jeff Wharton – minister of Crown services
- Reg Helwer – minister of central services
- Sarah Guillemard – minister of conservation and climate
A news release from the province says the Premier will speak to the media at 1 p.m., and at 2:30 p.m., the new ministers will speak to the media.
This has caused the daily COVID update to be pushed back to 3:30 p.m.
This is the first time since October 2019 there's been a cabinet shuffle.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Dauphin has welcomed the first baby of the new year.
Baby Naylah Houle was born at 4:50 a.m. on Sunday, January 3rd at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.
She weighed in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces.
Parents Ashlee Houle and Nathan McKay were congratulated by Prairie Mountain Health and staff at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.
To celebrate the occasion, the Dauphin Hospital Auxiliary presented the family with gift cards.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Manitoba’s code red measures are set to expire on Friday, Jan. 8 -- but health officials say they still haven’t landed on a plan for updating the restrictions.
Dr. Brent Roussin says that’s partly because “it too early to know the effects of holiday gatherings on our numbers”, adding, “it’s still premature to determine any changes to our restrictions."
"We haven’t yet landed on the new restrictions.”
Dr. Brent Roussin says we’re starting to see case numbers coming down, but test positivity and hospitalization rates remain too high.
“This is not the time to relax our efforts against this virus.”
Health officials reported 118 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba on Monday, and 5 more deaths.
The deaths announced Monday are all out of the Winnipeg health region. Two of which are linked to care home outbreaks. One is a woman in her 30s.
A Look At The Numbers
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.7% provincially and 11.8% in Winnipeg. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 25,244.
There are 4,423 active cases and 20,133 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
There are 245 people in hospital with active COVID-19, and another 95 people in hospital who are no longer infectious but continue to require care (340 hospitalizations in total).
There are 35 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19, and also six people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care (41 ICU patients in total).
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 688.
Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
• seven cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region
• five cases in the Northern health region
• seven cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• 19 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
• 80 cases in the Winnipeg health region
According to the province’s data, there are active cases in the following Parkland health districts: Dauphin (6, down from 10), Riding Mountain (4), Swan River (3), Porcupine Mountain (92), Duck Mountain (2), Asessippi (5), Little Saskatchewan (3), and Agassiz Mountain (5). Brandon has 28 active cases.
In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 42 active cases, while Fisher/Peguis has 39.
Concerns over the new COVID-19 variant, which experts believe to be more transmissible, have prompted the Manitoba Government to release updated guidelines for international travellers arriving in the province. Click here to read more.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The Manitoba Government has issued some updated guidelines for international travellers arriving in the province.
There have been some concerns at various levels of government after several cases of the new COVID-19 variant have been identified in Canada.
To date, there have been no cases of the variant identified in Manitoba, but Ontario has reported several cases of the variant believed to be more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain.
All international travellers arriving in Canada are reminded to get tested for COVID-19 immediately, regardless of whether or not they’re displaying symptoms.
International travellers arriving by air are also subject to a federal order requiring a mandatory 14-day isolation period on arrival in Canada — regardless of symptoms or test results.
A press release from the Manitoba Government says international travellers should also be tested again after seven days, even if still asymptomatic.
At this time, experts believe the new variant may be more transmissible, but there is no evidence the variant causes more severe symptoms of COVID-19. There’s also no evidence that the variant will be resistant to vaccines.
Current public health order in Manitoba strongly advise that travel out of the province should be limited to essential purposes only.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
