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A pair of recent traffic stops by Dauphin RCMP led to charges after police recovered multiple weapons, and drug paraphernalia.

On Friday, November 13 at 1:00 a.m., Dauphin RCMP stopped a vehicle driving down the back lane of 1st Street SW with no headlights on.

The vehicle was not registered and weapons located inside the vehicle were visible to police. A subsequent search of the vehicle recovered 28 grams of cannabis, drug paraphernalia, a machete, and brass knuckles.

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Photo supplied by Dauphin RCMP.

One man from Ste. Rose will face weapons-related charges. 

About 24 hours later, another traffic stop in Dauphin was conducted after police observed a vehicle in an unsafe operating condition — this time on Main Street South near Whitmore Avenue.

Police discovered the adult man from Dauphin was driving the vehicle unregistered, and the licence plates belonged on a different vehicle.   

A search of the vehicle revealed two machetes, two knives, a throwing star and drug paraphernalia.   

This incident remains under investigation. 

Provincial health officials announced the death of 10 more Manitobans who contracted COVID-19, along with 392 new cases on Monday.

Public health also announced the COVID-19 press conferences hosted by Dr. Brent Roussin will be held every weekday going forward.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 13 percent provincially and 12.8 percent in Winnipeg. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is now 11,339.

There are 7,011 active cases in Manitioba and 4,156 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 172.

Today’s data shows:
• 21 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
• 25 cases in the Northern health region;
• 19 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• 72 cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region; and
• 255 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

There are 212 active cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region.


Outbreak At Personal Care Home In The Pas

Officials are reporting two outbreaks today: the St. Paul’s Residence (personal care home) in The Pas, as well at Oakview Place personal care home in Winnipeg. The sites have been moved to Critical (red) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System.

So far there have been several care home outbreaks reported in the Parkland.

According to the latest data from the province, the outbreak at the Grandview Personal Care Home includes one staff member, who is now listed as recovered. The site is still elevated to Red on the Pandemic Response System.

The province declared an outbreak at the Gilbert Plains Personal Care Home on November 13, but no further information has been given from the province.

The province says an outbreak at the Swan Valley Health Centre and attached Swan Valley Personal Care home announced on October 25 has resulted in five staff infections and four “non-staff” infections.


6 More Cases in the Riding Mountain health district

The following Parkland health districts have active cases: Dauphin (4), Riding Mountain (11, up from 5), Swan River (9), Porcupine Mountain (4), Duck Mountain (3), Asessippi (10), Little Saskatchewan (10), Whitemud (19), and Agassiz Mountain (2).

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The Riding Mountain health district now has 11 active cases | Graphic supplied by the Government of Manitoba

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 77 active cases. The Fisher/Peguis health district has 153 cases.

Dr. Brent Roussin says Manitobans should only leave their homes for essential purposes. When leaving the house to obtain essentials, be sure to physically distance, wear a mask in indoor public places and avoid crowded spaces. Do not leave the home if you are sick, or when any member of your family is sick.

Public health is also asking Manitobans to not socialize with anyone from outside their household.

This past weekend was the draw for the Russell Take A Year Off Lottery.

Chairperson of the lottery committee, Chris Radford says things turned out really well this year.

“It’s the first time we’ve sold out in many years, did manage to sell out this year and we actually hit over $26,000 for the 50/50, which is a new record for us.”

In a year where the pandemic brought challenges, Radford is thankful for all the support they got.

“It was very surprising and very gratifying. I’m certainly glad people stepped up and supported us.”

While figures aren’t available yet, Radford says the money will go to a number of groups.

“It goes to help support our multi-plex here in town, as well as the community hall and the swimming pool. Also to the group that’s working to expand and improve our ball diamonds, and this year, we included the expansion to the daycare centre.”

Radford acknowledges a big part of the reason they were successful is the people that stepped up and volunteered.

The total earned will be known in December.

A second promising COVID-19 vaccine this month was announced this morning.

US company Moderna joins Pfizer in having a preliminary COVID vaccine with at least a 90% effective rate.

Dr Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, says what’s most reassuring is having similar results from two separate companies.

Moderna says the vaccine they’re producing protects 94.5%, but that number could change by the time the vaccine is ready for the public.

30,000 people in the US took part in the trial. Half of them were given two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart, the rest were given dummy injections.

Based on the first 95 to develop COVID symptoms, just 5 people were given the vaccine, and the other 90 had received the dummy injection.

According to the data, there were 11 cases of severe COVID, none were from immunized people.

Canada has already procured millions of doses of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, should they be approved for use by Health Canada.

Moderna will be applying to regulators in the US over the next couple weeks and the vaccine could be available to those considered high risk by the end of next month.

The City of Dauphin is announcing some changes to their daily operations in response to the critical Red level restrictions in effect province-wide.

Going forward, City Hall will remain open to the public for essential/important services that cannot easily be performed by other means — and the City is encouraging residents to call ahead to determine if your needs can be met without in-person contact.

Payments can be made via cheque or cash using the drop-box located at the north/main entrance door, mail, or through your financial institution. 

Appointments may be scheduled with the appropriate personnel if necessary.

The City Shop and Water Treatment Plant will remain closed to the general public, although all operations and services will continue to take place. 

The Waste Disposal Site will operate as usual with waste and recycling days remaining as scheduled.

The Fire Hall will be closed to the general public; however, fire protection services will operate as usual.

Mayor, Council and Senior Administration will continue to evaluate operations as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, and will adjust as required.

To contact Dauphin City Hall, you can call 204-622-3200.

A confirmed case of COVID-19 at MacKenzie Middle School in Dauphin was announced by the Mountain View School Division on Sunday.

Public health officials advise the positive case was in the school on Monday, November 9th and Tuesday, November 10th, but wasn't acquired in the school.

The exposure risk has been deemed low following the investigation by public health.

Close contacts have been notified and advised to self-isolate.

MVSD can't reveal the name or any identifying information about the confirmed case to any member of the school, community, or media.

The school is following division procedures for a positive COVID case, including additional cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

MacKenzie Middle School joins Gilbert Plains Elementary (confirmed case reported October 14) as the only MVSD schools where a confirmed case has been reported.

A record 494 new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Sunday, along with 10 more deaths. 

The province says the 10 deaths were recorded between Nov. 3 to 14 — and include 9 individuals from Winnipeg (7 linked to Maples Long Term Care Home) and a woman from the Southern Health region in her 70s.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 12.4 per cent provincially and 13.1 per cent in Winnipeg

The total of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 10,947.

Today’s data shows:
• 28 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• 30 cases in the Northern health region;
• 34 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• 136 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
• 266 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The Prairie Mountain Health region has 196 active cases, 613 recoveries, and 4 deaths.


Dauphin Adds Two More Active Cases

Two more active cases have been added in the Dauphin health district — where the province’s data now shows 4 active cases.

The following Parkland health districts have active cases: Dauphin (4), Riding Mountain (6), Swan River (10), Porcupine Mountain (4), Duck Mountain (2), Asessippi (11), Little Saskatchewan (9), Whitemud (19), and Agassiz Mountain (1).

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has 76 active cases. The Fisher/Peguis health district has 147 cases.

The province’s data also shows 6,715 active cases in Manitoba, with 4,070 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

There are 220 people in hospital with 41 people in intensive care.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 162.

The chief provincial public health officer urges Manitobans to not socialize with people from outside their household, to significantly reduce the number of close contacts and avoid closed-in or crowded spaces. In addition, they should focus on these fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19: 

• Stay home if you are sick, or when any member of your family is sick.
• Physically distance when you are with people outside your household.
• If you cannot physically distance, wear a mask to help reduce the risk to others or as required by public health orders.

Public health officials are also advising that anyone who is symptomatic, or has a household member who is symptomatic, the entire household needs to self-isolate pending COVID-19 test results. 

Peguis First Nation leadership is extending a strict lockdown measure, which appears to have been effective in bringing down the community’s caseload.

The lockdown — which went into effect on Sunday, November 1 — featured 14 days of an enforced 24-hour curfew. Every fourth day is a “relaxed lockdown” where residents are permitted to travel to shop for essentials.

On November 14, Manitoba’s largest First Nation announced it’s extending the COVID-19 Community Lockdown until November 24 at 12:00 a.m.

A release from Peguis Public Health reads:

“The Community Lockdown is working great and numbers have been decreasing. Peguis Public Health recommends continuing the lockdown until numbers reach 0 or single digits.”

Peguis Public Health says the lockdown can be extended at any time.

On the first day of the lockdown in Peguis First Nation (Sunday, Nov. 1), the community had 76 cases considered active.

As of Saturday, November 14, the active case count in Peguis First Nation was down to 25.

A large group of protestors gathered in a southern Manitoba community on Saturday to protest the latest public health restrictions ushered in earlier this week.

It's estimated at least 100 people were at the event in Steinbach, organized by the Hugs Over Masks group. Some attendees were seen not wearing masks and others were noticed not practicing social distancing.

Several speakers at the rally addressed the crowd — including Lewis Weiss, reeve for the R.M. of La Broquerie. Reports say he was issued a fine by provincial officials.

Manitoba Public Health orders currently cap gatherings at any indoor or outdoor public place at 5 people.

The current fine for an individual breaking a public health order is $1,296. Businesses can be fined $5,000.

Manitoba RCMP was on the scene blocking access to the rally but did not issue any tickets. Provincial environment and health officers issued fines to some of the protestors in attendance.

RCMP spokesperson Const. Julie Courchaine says "the RCMP used a measured approach during today's event and will be working with Manitoba Public Health to further investigate breaches of the public health order,” and added, “the RCMP respects individuals charter right to peacefully assemble while balancing that with the safety of the public.”


Steinbach is a COVID-19 Hotspot

Steinbach is home to one of the highest infection rates in the country.

On Saturday, the city of roughly 15,000 people had 263 active cases of COVID-19, 199 people recovered, and 14 deaths.

A nurse at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach told media the site is overcapacity, and that healthcare staff are facing an unsustainable workload.

The union representing nurses says some patients are being triaged in their cars due to a lack of space in the emergency department.

Fusion Credit Union is reporting that an employee at their Ethelbert branch has tested positive for COVID-19.

In a Facebook post, the company says they learned of the positive test on November 14 — six days after the employee was last in a Fusion branch.

The company says they have processes in place to ensure the employee and any potential close contacts are self-isolating and following the guidelines set by Manitoba Public Health.

As per Public Health guidelines, Fusion Credit Union is conducting the cleaning and sanitization process at the Ethelbert branch and plans to be open for business as usual on Monday.

Part of the message from the company reads:

“Our #1 priority is the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, our members, and our communities.  You may rest assured that we will continue to comply with physical distancing and the Manitoba Public Health orders to ensure the ongoing safety of our people and communities.  Thank you for your understanding.”

Fusion is waving the service charges for transfers and bill payments by phone, as well as eTransfers, until further notice.

By Saturday's deadline of 2 pm, tickets for the Russell Take A Year Off Lottery were sold out and Ervin Allen of Swan River won the $52,000 grand prize. Allen will receive the prize in the form of $1000 a week for an entire year. Andrew Dobson of Onanole took home $26,450 in another solid MEGA 50/50 draw.
 
Other prize winners are below:
 
- Karen & Rick Goraluk of Inglis won $5000.
- Lynn Cupples of Brandon won $3000.
- Wayne & Donna Bulischak of Russell won $2000.
- Birgit Lavallee and Pauline & Terry Glasman of Russell each won $1000.
- Martha Beuckert of Morden and Leonard Kreutzer of Plumas each won $500.
 
Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and congratulations to the organizers for another successful lottery.