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Starting today close contact identification and management protocols in schools are changing.
In the school setting, public health officials will consider vaccination status and consistent medical or non-medical mask use when assessing risk and determining isolation requirements for close contacts.
Self-isolation requirements for close contacts are being reduced to 10 days from 14 days, and testing is recommended at day seven.
Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin says that COVID-19 school outbreaks are being redefined.
“An outbreak will include at least three school-associated cases identified within a 14 day period in students teachers or staff within a specified cohort. The cases will have to be assessed as potentially acquired in school, and linked to a known case in the school setting or a school-sanctioned extracurricular activity.”
These changes are meant to keep students in school as much as possible while implementing measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The state of emergency that was first declared in March of 2020, has been extended in Manitoba.
The extension goes into effect tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. for 30 days.
Manitoba’s Emergency Measures Organization provincial response team works with industry partners to roll out programs and services to assist in Manitoba’s COVID-19 response strategy.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
McDonald’s restaurants across Canada will host McHappy Day 2021 on Wednesday.
Since its founding in 1977, McHappy Day, along with the everyday support of Canadians at McDonald’s, has helped Ronald McDonald House Charities support more than 425,000 families across Canada, giving them a place to stay together when they have to travel for their sick child’s treatment.
As local McDonald's owner, Mihir Patel explains, McDonald's restaurants across Canada will donate a portion of every dollar spent to Ronald McDonald House Charities:
"Every dollar that you spend at the restaurant, 10 percent of that will go to RMHC, and that money will be used towards Ronald McDonald Houses that we have across Canada, which will help a lot of families who are not able to afford the work and who are staying away from their kids are in the hospital."
Patel added that Dauphin's McDonald's is planning to give back to the community:
"As a part of the RMHC, 50 percent of the collection will go to the fundraising event locally in Dauphin to build a toddler park in Meadowlark Park and the other 50 percent will go to the Ronald McDonald House that we have in Winnipeg."
He also noted that when you visit McDonald's, round up to the nearest dollar to help support sick kids and their families.
McDonald’s Canada has contributed nearly $66 million to Ronald McDonald Houses and local Canadian children’s charities.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will remain in office for a third term after last night’s election, with the Liberals held to a second consecutive Minority government.
The election failed to result in any significant changes in seats for any of the parties with the current results closely resembling the 2019 election.
While some ridings are still too close to call and waiting for the tallies of mail-in ballots this week, the Liberals have won or are leading 158 seats, the Conservatives 119, the NDP 25, the Bloc Quebecois 34 and the Green Party 2.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
September 21st each year is honoured as a day where Alzheimer’s organizations worldwide direct their efforts towards raising awareness about Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Liz McLeod, Senior Manager for the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba, goes into detail about Dementia and Alzheimer's,
"Dementia is an umbrella diagnosis, its sort of like cancer is an umbrella diagnosis as well, but there is many different specific kinds of cancer, and with dementia, there's different kinds as well, there's the more well-known Alzheimer's disease and many other sub kinds, but most of the public knows dementia and knows Alzheimer's and they are sort of the same thing. Dementia kind of covers a broad range of illnesses."
McLeod breaks down where we are and where we are heading,
"More than 23,000 Manitobans have a diagnosis of dementia, and this number is rapidly growing, and by 2038 it's expected to reach over 40,700 Manitobans, and the main reason for that is because of the baby boomer population all ageing at the same time."
She carried on to talk about one of the reasons why there have been more diagnoses in the past few years,
"The medical system is getting better at diagnosing dementia earlier, whether that's because of specific tests, like cats scans, MRI's more specialist possibly, but they are getting better at diagnosing dementia, so you are going to see high numbers from that."
The Senior Manager for the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba lists some symptoms associated with the disease,
"Your short term in particular memory fades, and your unable to remember things that you could remember before, there's also changes in confusion, becoming disoriented, so sometimes people, as they progress through the disease, get lost, and there can be changes in mood in behaviour."
62% of Manitobans are impacted by dementia, whether that be with a family member or friend.
For more information on stats, symptoms and more, go to the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba website by clicking here.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Dan Mazier will serve another term as the Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa.
Dan wants to thank his constituents for re-electing him.
“I’m very grateful and I’ll make sure that your voice is carried to Ottawa on your behalf.”
Dan says his main focus will continue to be connectivity.
“I’m going to keep on making sure that the internet service providers are held to account, and also the cellphone providers, I know that’s really important. We need to get connected, COVID has really taught us that there’s a need to get all communities connected.”
He adds that he would also like to focus on agri-recovery and business risk management programs.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Dauphin City Council had their regular council meeting last night.
One item on the agenda was Manitoba Honour 150 and local recipient of the award, Bill Hart.
Deputy Mayor, Christian Laughland talked about Hart and gave him a certificate, as well as a medal:
"Bill's impact is felt everywhere in our community and his long-standing career in volunteerism and his 'we can do it' mindset have driven goal-getting, collaboration, and achievement in many organizations over the years. In recognition of this prestigious award, I'm honoured to present Bill with a framed honour certificate, a commemorative medal and ribbon, a $40 gift card from Manitoba 150 sponsored by Canad Inns, and a USB with a video that depicts the creation of the commemorative medal."
Another topic of discussion was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Deputy Mayor Laughland said that the City of Dauphin will now officially recognize September 30th as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation:
"The City of Dauphin and its employees will be observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, previously known as Orange Shirt Day on September 30th, 2021, as a statutory holiday to provide time to reflect on the legacy of the residential school system and its impact on Indigenous communities, and will be flying its flags at half-mast. Now, therefore we the council of Dauphin, do hereby proclaim September 30th, 2021, as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation."
The last topic was regarding fire prevention week, which will take place from October 3rd to October 9th. Deputy Mayor Laughland said that it's important that people practice fire safety everywhere, including your own home:
"All the people of Dauphin are urged to be aware of their surroundings, look for available points of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency, respond when the smoke alarms sound by exiting the building immediately, and support public safety activities and efforts of the Dauphin Fire Department during Fire Prevention Week 2021."
The next Dauphin City Council meeting will take place on Monday, October 4th.
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Mayor Allen Dowhan is retiring as Mayor of the City of Dauphin on October 1st.
He will be stepping down to focus on his health.
Dowhan became a councillor in 1998, was Deputy Mayor from 2001 to 2002, and again from 2010 to 2017, and then became mayor in 2017.
City Administration is consulting with the Province about regulations for by-elections.
Deputy Mayor Christian Laughland will continue to act as Mayor until further notice.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The government of Manitoba announced today that it is expanding eligibility for third doses of COVID-19 shots.
All residents and staff of First Nation personal care homes will now be able to receive third doses.
Manitoba says this will further expand in October to residents of all personal care homes throughout the province.
This builds on last week’s initial eligibility criteria for third doses, which included immunocompromised people requiring a third dose for travel or who previously received doses of vaccines that Health Canada disapproves of.
For more information about third doses, click here.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Human remains have been discovered at the St. Andrews Lock and Dam sight in Lockport.
Peguis First Nation Chief Glenn Hudson issued a statement on Friday, confirming that skeletal remains of two people were discovered at the site, and that consrtuction work has stopped as a result.
The statement says that the remains of a teenager were discovered first, and initial investigations suggest the person had tuberculosis.
Peguis First Nation has reached out to provincial archeologists to recover the remains and determine where the bones should be buried.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
It’s the 7th annual Farm and Food Awareness Week in Manitoba.
The government is encouraging all Manitobans to learn about the diversity of food production and the importance of agriculture to the economy.
Since it started in 2015, Farm and Food Awareness Week has taken place starting on the third Monday in September to promote and celebrate Manitoba farms and other sectors within the agriculture sector.
Nearly 40 thousand Manitobans work in the agricultural industry.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
