Eighth case crops up at maintenance shop

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This article was published 08/05/2020 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An eighth case of COVID-19 has been identified in an outbreak at a truck maintenance shop in Brandon.

The person is an employee at the shop, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief public health officer, said during Friday’s health briefing.

The shop is run by Oak Point Service, an arm of Paul’s Hauling Ltd., a large trucking company based in Winnipeg with a terminal in Brandon.

The outbreak now includes six employees and two others who were in close contact with an employee who had contracted the virus, Roussin said.

The affected staff and close contacts are self-isolating, and their cases are being followed up by public health officers.

Rossin has said a rise in the number of cases was not unexpected as contact tracing is carried out, but he again stressed Friday the outbreak does not pose a health risk to the public.

“The contact investigations are essentially complete, and there is no concern for the public,” Roussin said.

He noted the “index” case — the person who was the first to be identified — had no known link to travel or another known case, which then classifies it as community transmission.

Roussin said 11 per cent of the cases so far in Manitoba are described as community transmission.

On Thursday, Roussin praised the company for taking action early in the pandemic that helped contain the spread of the virus.

He said the company took pre-emptive measures by placing workers in smaller groups and limiting contact between them and other workers.

When asked Friday if the outbreak is linked to another case in Brandon in which an employee at a gas bar tested positive for COVID-19, Roussin he would not give out that information as it could potentially identify the person.

“What we’ll say is the same as always. If there was a reason that the public would be at risk then we would certainly be advising them.”

An employee at the Safeway Gas Bar in Brandon tested positive for the virus, a spokesperson for parent company Sobeys told the Sun via email Thursday.

Sobeys lists all known COVID-19 cases in its stores across the country on their website. This was their first case in Manitoba, although they have already recorded cases in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

On Friday, Central Services Minister Reg Helwer announced the Manitoba government is planning to purchase up to one million made-in-Manitoba N95 silicone masks from Winnipeg-based Precision ADM.

The masks can be sterilized after use, allowing them to be reused up to 30 times.

The province has placed an initial order for 500,000 masks, with an option to purchase an additional 500,000 masks over the next 14 months.

One new case of COVID-19 was identified Friday, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 284.

There have been 22 confirmed cases so far in Prairie Mountain Health.

Five people are currently hospitalized, with none in intensive care.

Manitoba has 30 active cases while 247 individuals have recovered from COVID-19.

The total number of tests performed since early February now sits at 29,343.

» brobertson@brandonsun.com