Possible exposure in Brandon

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This article was published 12/05/2021 (1950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were no deaths from COVID-19 reported on Tuesday by the province. However, Brandon saw 100 active cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Of the 63 deaths in the Prairie Mountain Health region that are COVID-19 related, 23 originated in Brandon.

The province reported 329 new active cases. With data correction, the net new number of cases Tuesday was 328. There are 42,779 lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba as of Tuesday.

In Prairie Mountain Health, there are 326 B.1.1.7 variants of concern and 100 unspecified cases of variants of concern. Currently, there are 2,960 cases of COVID-19 in Prairie Mountain Health, with 34 new cases identified. There is one person in intensive care, and 13 active hospitalizations.

There was a possible public exposure in Brandon at the YMCA on 231 Eighth St. on May 1 from 10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. and at the AR Training Centre at 609 Ninth St., Unit 1 in Brandon on April 23-30 and May 1-7. There were no times specified on the government website.

In Manitoba, there are 4,611 cases of variants of concern with 1,810 active cases and 24 deaths associated with the variants and 24 deaths associated with the variants of concern.

The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate for Tuesday is 12 per cent provincially and 14.2 per cent in Winnipeg.

The following is the breakdown of cases in the province:

• 24 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;

• eight cases in the Northern health region;

• 34 cases in Prairie Mountain Health;

• 28 cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region; and

• 235 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

There are 3,837 active cases of COVID-19 in the province with 37,945 people who have recovered. There are 154 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 60 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 214 hospitalizations.

There were 48 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 11 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 59 intensive care unit patients.

The province conducted 2,920 laboratory tests Monday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since February 2020 to 701,643. Just under 1,000 people have died in the province from COVID-19.

On the South Valley Dakota Nation Governance Facebook page, 27 active COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday. Three people were in hospital and two were in intensive care units. To date, there have been 87 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 21 cases of variants of concern, one death and 59 people who have recovered from COVID-19.

» kkielley@brandonsun.com

VACCINE AGE LIMIT LOWERED

For the second day in a row, the province has lowered the age of eligibility for vaccines. On Tuesday, people 24 years of age and older were eligible to receive the vaccine at supersites and pop-up clinics in the province, according to Manitoba’s vaccine eligibility web site (gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria).

As well, First Nation, Métis and Inuit people 18 years of age and older are eligible for the vaccine. This includes people who are 18 and older who are pregnant, clients of the community living disABILITY services aged 18 and older.

Those 18 and older who work as police officers and firefighters, in a health-care setting, including outpatient settings, a vaccine warehouse, alternative isolation accommodations and congregate living facilities are eligible for the vaccine.

Direct-care providers in homeless shelters, family violence shelters, emergency placement shelters and second-stage housing, congregate group care settings in Community Living disABILITY Services or the child and family services sector who are 18 and over are eligible for the vaccine.

At the 3 p.m. question period for the province Tuesday, Canadian Press reporter Steve Lambert tweeted: “The health department has confirmed what the premier mentioned in QP today — vaccines will be available to all 18+ tomorrow. (Age was dropped from 30 to 24 today) Details in the weekly Wednesday tech briefing. #mbpoli #covid19mb.”

 

ENFORCEMENT INCREASES FINES

The province issued more than $70,000 in fines for violation of public health orders for the week of May 3-9.

In an effort to discourage violations of public health orders, Manitoba enforcement officers issued 97 warnings and 60 tickets in that time frame.

A breakdown of the tickets and fines are as follows:

• 50 tickets worth $1,296 each were issued to people for various offences

• Nine tickets worth $298 each were issued to people who refused to wear a mask indoors in public places

• One ticket was issued to a business for $5,000

Gatherings in private residences made up the bulk of the tickets issued, as 47 were handed out for a total of $60,912 in fines. Three tickets totalling just under $4,000 were issued to people failing to self-isolate.

Large gatherings and rallies were on Manitoba Justice’s radar screen as followup and investigations took place once they became aware of them, with 32 tickets issued totalling $41,472. This includes two tickets from the Winkler rally on May 1, eight tickets from the rally at The Forks in Winnipeg on May 2 and 22 tickets from the Law Courts rally on May 3. Investigations are ongoing and additional charges are expected.

In order to strengthen the provincial public health orders, the province has taken steps to amend the Preset Fines and Offence Descriptions Regulation and the Provincial Offences General Regulation under the Provincial Offences General Regulation under the Provincial Offences Act.

Those steps include increasing provincial fines for people who receive more than two or more tickets for failing to wear a mask from $298 to $486. People receiving fines for two or more tickets who were fined $1,296 in the past will now see the fine increased to $2,542.

The fine for failure to pay a ticket has increased from $50 to $100.

Travellers arriving at Winnipeg International Airport are still being greeted by Commissionaires Manitoba and reminded to self-isolate.

There are almost 3,300 enforcement personnel across the province capable of enforcing public health orders, a release from the province said.

Since April 2020, there have been 4,105 warnings and 1,354 tickets issued, with a total of $1.8 million in fines to businesses and individuals.

» kkielley@brandonsun.com