A roundup of COVID-19 developments for Friday Oct. 30, 2020
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For much of the pandemic, our newsroom has tried over and over again to tell stories from those on the front lines of the health care system.
We want to know what they are facing. We want to hear their fears. We want to get at the real story of what COVID-19 is doing to our emergency rooms, our wards and our ICUs.
But other than a few words from a few nurses and doctors who were prepared to speak if granted anonymity, the health care story of this pandemic has largely been told by those from on high: the chief public health officer, the chief nursing officer and the health minister. That’s what happens when gag orders spread through the system faster than the coronavirus.
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I’m also wondering if what’s going on now in Manitoba — the unrelenting rise in COVID cases, deaths and positivity rate — is because our health care system was infected by a gag order that silenced those prepared to treat whoever came through hospital doors even if there wasn’t sufficient PPE to protect them from the virus spreading near and far.
Fortunately, a group of doctors could no longer bite their collective tongue and turned to the Free Press to issue a stern warning, based not only on years of medical experience, but also on the realities of what they are seeing from the inside.
“We know right now, no matter what we do, we have 60 deaths now and we will double it to 120…. We’re in deep trouble based on the numbers we’re seeing,” Dr. Anand Kumar said in an interview.
“We went from 50 or so people (testing positive for COVID-19) two weeks ago to almost 200 today. Based on pretty standard populations — and no change in our approach — two weeks from now there will be 400 to 500 cases per day and 1,000 two weeks after that.”
Until we published Kumar’s warning, along with those of other doctors who penned an open letter to Premier Brian Pallister and Health Minister Cameron Friesen, that kind of detail has never been shared with the public in the midst of the biggest public health threat to the province in more than a century.
I don’t want to read too much into the fact that hours after our front page story Friday the province announced more restrictions in a desperate bid to change the trajectory of an increasingly deadly disease.
But I sure wish our readers had been able to hear much earlier from the likes of Kumar and others now having to treat the fallout of a pandemic response that’s failing even if no one in government is willing to admit it.
— Paul Samyn, Winnipeg Free Press editor
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THE LATEST NUMBERS
Note: Manitoba and Canada figures may not match due to differences in data sources.
THE LATEST IN MANITOBA
• Winnipeg is in code red lockdown as of Monday and more restrictions are coming into effect across Manitoba as part of the province’s pandemic response system, public health officials announced Friday. There were 480 new cases Friday, dating back to Oct. 25, and three more people have died linked to the Parkview Place outbreak. The five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is 8.6 per cent, and in Winnipeg it’s 9.7 per cent. All restaurants and bars will close, grocery stores will be at 50 per cent capacity and other retail stores will be at 25 per cent capacity. All recreation and entertainment facilities will be closed. Regions outside of Winnipeg will have to abide by orange level restrictions and gathering size limits. The restrictions will be enforced starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said. There was a backlog in data entry, which led to the record-high daily case count announcement.
• The City of Winnipeg is suspending all recreation and leisure programs and services beginning Saturday. That includes the closure of all city-owned and operated gyms, indoor pools, arenas and libraries. The closures will last for at least two weeks as the province moves Winnipeg into its red, or critical category under the pandemic response system. The city hall council building will also be closed to the public.
• Details of the latest flights, events and locations where people might have been exposed to COVID-19 are posted on the province’s website. See details of Winnipeg locations with possible public exposures — including transit routes and schools — on this page.
THE LATEST ELSEWHERE
• New federal projections suggest Canadians need to cut a quarter of their contacts to keep the COVID-19 outbreak under control. The government released forecasts Friday indicating that at current rates of socializing, Canada could see COVID-19 case counts increase to 8,000 per day come early December. If Canadians reduce their rates of contact by 25 per cent, that number cold drop below 2,000, according to the modelling. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said Canada has lost its lead in the ongoing dance with COVID-19 after curbing cases over the summer, and taking it back will require discipline.
• Quebec food-processing company Olymel says it doesn’t plan to close either of its two plants in the province dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks. A hog-slaughter facility in Princeville, Que., northeast of Montreal, reported 14 infections among workers on Thursday, and a plant in Quebec’s Beauce region, southeast of Quebec City, recently reported 126 cases. Company spokesman Richard Vigneault said regional public health authorities haven’t recommended either plant be closed. He said the company has begun testing 120 employees of the Princeville plant, targeting day shift workers in the cutting room. That facility employs 370 people. At the Valle-Jonction, Que., facility in the Beauce region, mass testing of employees has ended and the company hired a nurse to work on site and assess employees’ symptoms.
• Ottawa will spend an additional $204 million targeted at child care, education and infrastructure to help Indigenous communities fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday. The government is spending $120 million to support early learning and child-care facilities in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities along with $25 million to help Indigenous post-secondary institutions with increased costs related to the pandemic and $59 million in funding to improve infrastructure on First Nations to meet COVID-19 health and safety standards.
• Saskatchewan reported 76 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 3,066. The Saskatoon region continues to see the highest number of cases at 34. Health officials say initial investigations in Saskatoon and Prince Albert are finding that some new cases appear to be unknown community transmissions.
• The U.S. now has nine million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as infections continue to rise in nearly every state. It took two weeks to reach the mark from eight million, the fastest jump of one million yet. It had taken more than three weeks for the total to rise from seven million to eight million. Deaths are up 14 per cent over the past two weeks, averaging more than 800 every day. The virus has now killed more than 229,000 Americans.
• India reported 48,648 new coronavirus cases, continuing a monthlong slowing trend in infections even as the country adds to its eight million cases. The Health Ministry also reported 563 more fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the confirmed death toll to 121,090. Even as cases are dropping nationwide, New Delhi is facing what could be a third wave of infections.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
“What comes next for us this fall and winter is for every one of us to determine through our decisions and our actions. Letting down our guard and letting this virus win is not an option.”
— Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam, urging Canadians to limit their contact with others by as much as possible and shrink their social bubbles
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LOCAL NEWS
Ryan Thorpe:
Failure to act
Manitoba COVID woes can be traced to government's 'incompetent reaction': experts
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Kevin Rollason:
New restrictions not enough: ICU doctor
The author of an open letter signed by 11 doctors, arguing government should shut down the province before COVID-19 numbers overwhelm the medical system, doesn’t think Manitoba went far enough F...
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Danielle Da Silva:
‘We are at a crisis point. Lives are at stake’
Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson implored Manitobans to follow the latest round of public health orders, but said nurses have been raising the alarm for months when it comes to health-s...
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Kevin Rollason:
Fear escalates in jail as COVID cases rise
An inmate at Headingley Correctional Centre says the entire jail is locked down as the number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise.Justice officials said on Thursday there were 44 cases — 34...
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Mike McIntyre:
Thin ice
Minor hockey officials and hundreds of volunteers have logged big minutes on defence against COVID so kids can play; they hope new restrictions announced Friday calling a time-out are only temporary
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NATIONAL NEWS
Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press:
Canadians need to cut contacts by a quarter: Tam
New federal projections suggest that Canadians need to cut a quarter of their contacts to keep the COVID-19 outbreak under control, as several provinces wrestle with how far their lockdown measures sh...
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Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press:
Scientists ID markers in blood for severe COVID-19
HALIFAX - Canadian immunologists say they’re finding telltale markers in patients' blood that help predict the severity of COVID-19 and could lead to more targeted treatments.David Kelvin,a Dalhousie ...
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Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press:
Panicked research erodes public trust: report
OTTAWA - Publishing weak, careless and sometimes fake research on the novel coronavirus is eroding trust in science, leading people to ignore public health advice, a new report from the Royal Society ...
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Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press:
More pandemic funding for Indigenous communities
Ottawa will spend an additional $204 million targeted at child care, education and infrastructure to help Indigenous communities fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Fr...
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Melissa Couto Zuber, The Canadian Press:
Experts divided on COVID-19 Halloween risks
As COVID-19 case numbers continue to creep up in much of the country, some parents are feeling spooked about letting their children trick-or-treat on Halloween.
Should they carry on with the door-to-d...
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Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press:
COVID-19 could make clock switch smoother: experts
Just when you thought 2020 couldn't get any darker, the end of daylight time this weekend will make dusk come one hour earlier.Much of Canada is set to turn back the clocks at 2 a.m. on Sunday, giving...
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Shawn Jeffords and Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press:
Plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions coming: Ford
TORONTO - A plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions in the province's hot spots is coming next week, Premier Doug Ford said Friday, indicating he's asked health advisors for a strategy to allow shuttered b...
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Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press:
Halloween goes ahead in frightening times
TORONTO - As spooky season reaches its climax in a particularly frightening year, some historians argue the COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity to explore a different side of Halloween. The holida...
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Shawn Jeffords, The Canadian Press:
Ontario hospitals say they need funding urgently
TORONTO - Ontario's hospitals say they are facing "unprecedented" financial pressures and many of them have been forced to use lines of credit to cover COVID-19-related costs. The head of the associat...
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The Canadian Press:
Ont. restaurants ask to see COVID-19 data
A group from Ontario's restaurant industry is calling on the provincial government to explain its decision to impose tighter COVID-19 restrictions on the sector.A coalition that includes the industry ...
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John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press:
Ontario outlines plan to help sport, tourism
TORONTO - Ontario's minister of heritage and sport says the industries in her portfolio have been some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and she wants to be ready to revitalize them when it...
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Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press:
Second Olymel plant dealing with COVID-19 outbreak
MONTREAL - Quebec food-processing company Olymel says it doesn't plan to close either of its two plants in the province dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks. A hog-slaughter facility in Princeville, Que., ...
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The Canadian Press:
Yukon records its first COVID-19 death
WHITEHORSE - Yukon has reported its first death from COVID-19 after an outbreak in the small community of Watson Lake.Chief medical health officer Dr. Brendan Hanley said Friday the person who died wa...
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The Canadian Press:
One new COVID-19 case reported in New Brunswick
A collection of breaking news briefs filed on November 4, 2020 | • AMC opposes proposed curfew | • No injuries in afternoon house fire | • River Heights students alerted after incident | • Golf Manitoba names golfers of the year | • Two more deaths, 374 new COVID-19 cases announced Wednesday | • New testing sites to open in Winnipeg and Winkler | • University of Manitoba Faculty Association to hold honk-a-thon at legislature | • Winnipeg Santa Parade goes virtual | • Man dies after arrest in Elmwood | • WPS officers not responsible for death of suspect in 2018 | • Search continues for missing man in Garden Hill | • COVID-19 update coming midday
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Associated Press:
Carnegie Hall to remain closed through April 5
NEW YORK - Carnegie Hall has extended its closure due to the coronavirus pandemic through April 5.The decision announced Thursday leaves only the possibility of performances at the very tail end of th...
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COVID-19 BASICS
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