No new COVID-19 restrictions on the horizon: Roussin

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This article was published 07/04/2022 (1435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While COVID-19 transmission may be on the rise across Manitoba, the province currently has no intention of implementing new public health measures, according to Dr. Brent Roussin.

The BA.2 strain, a subvariant of the highly transmissable omicron, is now the dominant strain based on wastewater samples, making up 60 per cent of cases. While more contagious than the omicron variant, the chief provincial public health officer said it is proving to be less severe.

Yet, there are still no plans to reinstate mask mandates or change how the province reports data.

“We are asking people to get vaccinated for whichever shot they are eligible for as soon as they can, as well as follow the fundamentals to mitigate their risk, such as staying home when sick and limiting their contacts,” said Roussin. “COVID is going to be with us for a while.”

The province has recently been criticized for releasing limited COVID-19 data. Roussin explained the reason for this is because the data is not necessary to get people to follow guidelines or encourage them to get vaccinated. The data is to guide people in their decision-making.

The best weapon against COVID-19 is vaccines. Roussin lauded the high immunization uptake from the public, calling it one of the most successful vaccine campaigns in Manitoba’s history. He reiterated the province is making a second booster shot available for certain groups, as per the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s recommendations. Anyone living in personal-care homes, is over the age of 50 and living in a First Nation, Inuit or Métis community, or anyone over the age of 70 years, is eligible to receive the second booster.

The latest data from the province’s weekly COVID-19 report shows six people died from the virus between March 27 to April 2. This brings Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,751.

There were 141 hospital admissions between March 27 to April 2 and 111 admissions the previous week. There were also 11 people admitted to ICU. Roussin said this is more of a plateau than an increase, and ICU numbers are levelling off. Cases are trending upward, Roussin said, but the number of deaths and severe outcomes are decreasing largely due to the high vaccine uptake.

The report shows 1,359 new COVID-19 cases were identified between March 27 to April 2 — an increase from 979 cases in the week prior. The new cases bring the total number of cases to 136,573.

The test positivity rate is up to 20 per cent.

With these new cases, the province said there were seven new outbreaks reported in long-term care facilities during the week. No outbreaks were reported in schools during that time.

In terms of vaccines, Roussin said about 80 per cent of those aged 12 to 17 have received two doses, and about 88 per cent of adults have also received two doses. Only 41 per cent of five- to 11-year-olds have received two doses. Roussin implored parents to get their children fully vaccinated as soon as possible.

The province is still making rapid test kits available to the public. Roussin said the province has been building distribution to restock supplies as needed and as of next week, they will be sending test kits to rural libraries. So far, 50 have expressed interest.

The province is also working on making the COVID antiviral drug Paxlovid available to more Manitobans. Roussin said they are looking at the criteria and drug interactions before making any recommendations.

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