18 new cases in PMH

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This article was published 29/08/2020 (2043 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province announced 32 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba on Friday, including a jump of 18 fresh cases in Prairie Mountain Health.

Preliminary investigations show 14 of the new cases are close contacts of active cases, according to Manitoba Health. The total number of cases in Manitoba is now 1,096, of which 418 are active.

While the Prairie Mountain Health region leads the province with the greatest number of new cases, there were seven new cases in Winnipeg, six new cases in Southern Health and one new case in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.

There are now 223 active cases in Prairie Mountain Health, up from 212 announced on Thursday. The current five-day test positivity rate is 2.3 per cent, down from three per cent on Thursday.

During the City of Brandon’s Thursday COVID-19 livestream, Dr. Amy Frykoda, a medical officer of health for the region, said the majority of new cases are connected to known clusters or cases, but there is a trend toward more community transmission.

“We have noted multiple clusters since (Aug. 13), we have noted more clusters that are not connected to one another. … As well, there have been various events and acquisition type exposes throughout Prairie Mountain Health,” she said.

Frykoda encouraged residents in the region to return to the fundamentals, including physical distancing, hand washing, wearing masks in public places and staying home if you feel unwell.

“Perhaps, as we’ve heard it mentioned in our province, we may have lost touch with that or lost focus with that,” Frykoda said.

Five people are currently in hospital and one person is in intensive care. The number of deaths remains at 14.

The Brandon School Division is also working on protocols for what happens if and when a student is diagnosed with COVID-19 during the school year. Supt. Marc Casavant said the division expects the protocols will be ready before the beginning of the school year.

“Other health orders could be implemented as a result of cases in any one of our schools,” he said. “We’re fully aware that that could happen and we certainly want to remind staff, parents and students that they need to be prepared, that change could occur throughout the school year.”

On Friday, the Manitoba Liberals offered their support for the Safe September MB campaign, which calls for more safety measures in the province’s schools than the government has currently planned for.

Party Leader Dougald Lamont called remote learning the “ultimate in social distancing” in a prepared release Friday. A distance learning option would reduce class sizes and allow staff and students with immune challenges the ability to work and learn safely, according to the Grits.

Among the party’s other demands — in line with the non-partisan parent and teacher collective’s back-to-school asks: allowing school boards to delay back-to-school; requiring masks with reasonable exemptions; assessing and upgrading ventilation systems; providing paid leave to employees who have to take sick leave or self-isolate; and ensuring divisions have enough substitute teachers this year.

» dmay@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

» Twitter: @DrewMay_