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Canada has reinstated its international travel ban for the month of September.
The ban was extended Friday night, excluding all non-essential travellers outside of Canada from entering the country until at least September 30th.
Those who do enter Canada will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont is calling for the PC government to offer a more flexible back to school approach.
Lamont tells CKDM he’d like to see school divisions be allowed to offer remote learning options or push back the starting date of classes.
“Right now the province is basically saying you basically have to school in person, and if you’re worried about doing that you have to take them out of the public system and homeschool them instead. We’re saying that’s not acceptable, and we’re backing this group called Safe September Manitoba, who say we have to have remote learning as an option.”
The Manitoba Liberal Leader and MLA for St. Boniface also wants to ensure the $85.4 million in federal funding for education actually goes towards making schools safe.
Lamont says the money could be directed towards making remote learning options more feasible by improving internet connections, or purchasing equipment such as laptops.
A release sent out by the provincial Liberals on Friday points out that other provinces, including BC, Saskatchewan and Ontario are all providing a public option for remote learning — but the Pallister government is not.
“I understand there are school divisions that are willing and able to do this remote learning, but they need to get permission from the province," says Dougald Lamont.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
There’s some concern amongst Roblin residents following a move to relocate some of their health centre’s lab technicians to Russell.
Jana Knight is a business owner in Roblin, and tells CKDM her community was given little notice about the decision to close the Lab and X-Ray department on September 1.
“When people here came to understand that once our lab and x-ray people are gone, then we can longer have an ER — then the urgency ramped up in our community.”
Knight has been contacting various government officials, and the Prairie Mountain Health CEO, asking for the decision to be reconsidered.
“We have 4 doctors currently in Roblin. What I don’t agree with is pulling our lab staff, thereby closing our ER and jeopardizing the four doctors we have in order to keep Russell open. I don’t want the Russell lab to close. I don’t want any lab in Manitoba to close, but I don’t think theirs should stay open and ours should close," said Knight.
She also expressed her concerns about community members, especially seniors, having to drive 50 kilometres south to Russell on rural roads in the wintertime.
“All of the sudden they’re pulling the rug out from under us in Roblin, because it’s a good time. I think doing it during a pandemic, in the middle of harvest, is pretty dirty pool.”
An email from a Shared Health spokesperson stated that diagnostic services will be “temporarily consolidated at Russell Health Centre due to a number of staff vacancies throughout the area”.
The Shared Health spokesperson also said that recruitment to fill those positions is ongoing, with an effort to maintain as much service as possible in the meantime. ECG exams and phlebotomy (i.e. lab sample collection, including blood samples) will continue to occur in Roblin, with testing occurring off-site.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
WestJet is cracking down on their mask-wearing policies next week, removing any passengers who refuse to wear a face covering.
Starting September 1st, all passengers over the age of 2 are required to wear a mask, unless the person has a doctor’s note explaining why they can’t wear one.
Anyone who doesn’t follow the new restrictions could be put on the company’s no-fly list for up to a year, suspending them from flights.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The province reports that mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus have been found in Manitoba.
Two infected mosquito pools have been identified in Brandon and Winnipeg, according to a release from the province on Friday.
There have been no reports on the virus being transmitted to humans this year. Last year there were no West Nile infected mosquitoes found in Manitoba.
There are permanent mosquito traps set up in 21 community areas in southern Manitoba to monitor the Culex tarsalis mosquitoes — which are the most likely mosquito species to transmit West Nile to humans.
The Manitoba Government has released some tips on how to best protect yourself from the West Nile virus:
- Apply an appropriate insect repellent when outdoors and follow the instructions on the label.
- Wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing with long sleeves and pant legs while outdoors.
- Reduce time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn.
- Make sure your doors and window screens fit tightly and are free of holes.
- Reduce the mosquito habitat around your home by regularly cleaning and emptying water-holding containers such as birdbaths, wading pools, children's toys, eavestroughs, tarp covers and plant trays.
For an up-to-date look at the provincial data on West Nile virus in Manitoba, click here.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Thirty-two new cases of COVID-19 have been added in Manitoba today, taking the province’s total to 1096.
Of today’s cases, 18 are in the Prairie Mountain Health region. None are in the Dauphin health district.
Manitoba now has 418 active cases and 664 people have recovered.
The number of deaths in the province remains unchanged at 14.
Manitobans are being encouraged to return to the fundamentals to stop the spread of the virus – washing your hands, wearing a mask, physical distancing, and staying home if you are sick.
For more on COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The provincial government is blaming human error for a privacy breach that shared personal information about Children’s Disability Services (CDS) clients with service agencies and community advocates that work with individuals with disabilities.
On Wednesday, CDS staff accidentally sent an email that was meant for the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY), to about 100 agencies and advocacy groups.
The email included a spreadsheet with personal info, including the diagnosis and address, of about approximately 9,000 children, as well as info about a situation being reviewed by MACY.
While the email included personal information about these children the province says it didn’t include personal health identification numbers, social insurance numbers or any financial information.
The spreadsheet was password-protected, but the password was also provided.
The province called the agencies and groups that received the email to confirm it was deleted.
The province is asking the affected families to advise them of the breach and apologizes for the error, and says they’ll be following up by email or mail.
The department is following up with staff to review and improve processes to avoid this happening again.
MACY has been informed of this issue.
This matter has also been referred to the Manitoba Ombudsman, as is standard practice.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
2020 is shaping up to be the worst year for catastrophic injuries in the last decade.
So far this year, injury claims have doubled, according to MPI. Since the start of the year up until the end of July, a total of 18 serious injury (quadriplegic, paraplegic, and/or brain injury) claims were opened with MPI.
In July alone, 9 serious injury claims were opened.
It’s reported that the majority of serious and catastrophic injuries take place on rural roadways, where speed limits are typically higher, increasing the severity of the crash.
Last year set the record for the worst year in the decade with a total of 23 claims opened.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The severe thunderstorm warnings and watches that were in effect in the Parkland ended overnight.
Last night in Dauphin the storm brought thunder, lightning, and rain.
At 4:20 this morning, the severe thunderstorm watches ended.
The severe thunderstorm watch ended in these communities:
- Gilbert Plains Mun. incl. Ashville
- Grandview Mun. incl. Valley River Res.
- Mossey River Mun. incl. Winnipegosis and Fork River
- Mun. of Ethelbert incl. Garland
- Mun. of Roblin incl. Makaroff Shortdale and Bield
- Mun. of Russell-Binscarth incl. Gambler Res.
- R.M. of Dauphin incl. Sifton and Valley River
- R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Ochre River and Makinak
- R.M. of Lakeshore incl. Rorketon and Toutes Aides
- R.M. of Riding Mountain West incl. Asessippi Prov. Park
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Some parents and teachers in the Prairie Mountain Health region have expressed their concerns about the province’s back to school plan — with the region now elevated to the “orange” level.
A series of protests were held in Brandon on Thursday by a group called “Safe September Brandon“ — hoping to see more health measures implemented in schools, before their reopening.
In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin addressed some of those concerns.
Roussin says health officials raised the alert level to orange, because of a number of indicators, resulting in restrictions limiting the number of people at indoor and outdoor gatherings to 10 people. Also, masks are now required at indoor public places and outdoor gatherings of four or more people.
Roussin explained why the restrictions are not being applied to schools, saying "just like restaurants, retail and other sectors, we did not apply this to schools at this time. Schools in the Prairie Mountain Health region are not changing their level of restriction," but added, "our schools province-wide are prepared to do so, because we know things change quite quickly.”
A chart released by the province shows a number of restrictions that could be implemented during the “orange” response level. However, at this point, no other sector in PMH is affected by the orange level restrictions, other than the new rules for group sizes and masks wearing.
For more information on the province's back to school plan, click here.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
A wind warning is being issued on Friday for Lake Manitoba and Victoria Beach.
The advisory will be in effect for the south basin of Lake Manitoba and shorelines near Gimli, as well as the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
The forecast is calling for winds up to 70km/h, which could raise wave levels by up to 5 feet or more.
Property owners are advised to take precautions.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
