A roundup of COVID-19 developments for Friday Aug. 27, 2021
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There’s been far too many Fridays where I’ve fallen short in finding something to send you into the weekend on an uplifting note.
Tonight, however, I hope to make up for that with some positive news involving my father who I wrote about last week.
Thanks to the unvaccinated patients in his room, we never were able to visit him before his surgery on Monday. But thanks to the doctors and nurses at St. B, he was back home Wednesday, looking as good as a nearly 91-year-old can be after making an unscheduled hospital pitstop in the midst of a pandemic.
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He greatly appreciated the well wishes many have sent, and I hope I didn’t miss anyone in expressing our gratitude for the kind and caring words that landed in my inbox.
As I mentioned in last Friday’s briefing, the vexing situation facing my fully vaccinated father unable to visit with his fully vaccinated family because of the unvaccinated near his hospital bed was anything but an isolated case. We had a front-page story Tuesday about the plight of another family facing the same predicament at HSC. We followed it up with another story Thursday that revealed six critically ill cardiac patients at St. Boniface Hospital were denied visitors for two days because an unvaccinated patient was put in their room. And last night over some post-hockey beer and pizza, I learned one of my teammates hasn’t been able to visit his sister for nearly a month because of the same policy that allows the unvaccinated to trump the visitation rights of the vaccinated.
I’d like to think the attention the Free Press brought to this issue might lead to changes that better balance the viral risks with the need for loved ones to see each other.
I’m also mindful not everyone in hospital who is unvaccinated has done so by their own choice. As one reader wrote to tell me, he’s been unable to see his wife in hospital because her severe illness at home prevented her from making it to any of the vaccination appointments he made before her emergency surgery. Among his concerns was the valid question of why homecare nurses can’t deliver the vaccine shots to those unable to make it to clinics.
At the risk of ending tonight’s briefing on a downer, I must note the challenges facing Shared Health’s visitation policy are unlikely to ease when the fourth wave hits. The foreboding forecast calls for more pressure on hospital beds from more COVID patients who, more often than not, will be unvaccinated.
But the fourth wave is a worry for another day as this weekend I’m looking forward to spending some time with my father and sharing a toast to his health.
— Paul Samyn, Winnipeg Free Press editor
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THE LATEST NUMBERS
Note: We have removed some graphics from this newsletter and added new ones. To see the previously included graphics — as well as a larger selection of charts showing the state of COVID-19 provincially and nationally — visit COVID-19 by the numbers.
THE LATEST IN MANITOBA
• There were 31 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba on Friday, with Southern Health reporting the most new cases. The rural health authority, which has slightly more than 15 per cent of Manitoba’s population, reported 14 of the 31 new infections. There are nine new cases in Winnipeg, four in the Northern Health region and two each in Interlake-Eastern and Prairie Mountain. Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate is at 2.8 per cent for the third consecutive day. Sixty-five people remain hospitalized in the province after contracting COVID-19, while 21 people with the virus remain in intensive care.
• Manitoba is bringing back some of its COVID-19 public health orders and will allow only people who are fully vaccinated to go to restaurants, bars, bingo halls and sporting events.The changes will come into effect next Friday. The province previously announced it was bringing back a mask mandate for indoor public places starting tomorrow. As well, all front-line provincial employees who work with vulnerable populations, including teachers, must be fully vaccinated or get regular testing.
For the latest information on current public health orders, restrictions and other guidance, visit the provincial government’s website.
All Manitobans born on or before Dec. 31, 2009 are eligible to schedule a first-dose vaccine appointment. Anyone who has received a first dose of any vaccine can now book their second-dose appointment. There must be a minimum of 28 days between receiving the first and second shots. For the latest information on vaccination, visit the provincial government’s website.
Manitobans who have a Manitoba health card and have received all required doses of a vaccine at least 14 days ago can request an immunization card to prove complete vaccination. To request a digital or physical card, visit the provincial government’s website.
THE LATEST ELSEWHERE
• Health Canada has finally given the green light for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to be used to inoculate kids as young as 12. The original approval for Moderna in December 2020 was only for people at least 18 years old. Moderna applied for authorization for youth in early June, citing a clinical trial of 3,700 youth in which none of the teens who got two doses developed a COVID-19 infection. Youth as young as 12 in Canada have been authorized to receive the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech since May 5. As of mid-August, 75 per cent of kids in that age group had received at least one dose, and 59 per cent were fully vaccinated.
• Hundreds of parents in Mexico have resorted to filing for court injunctions to get coronavirus vaccines for their children after the government refused to consider vaccinating those under 18. In the U.S. and other countries, childhood vaccinations are already underway, but Mexican officials have downplayed the risk for minors. That is despite the 613 deaths and 60,928 confirmed COVID-19 cases among people under 18 in Mexico to date. About 15 parents have won the injunctions and got their children shots as the government presses schools to return to in-person classes Monday.
• Authorities arrested Congo’s former public health minister, Dr. Eteni Longondo, late Friday following allegations he misappropriated more than $1 million in funds allocated by the World Bank to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Longondo, who has maintained his innocence, was taken to the central prison of Makala following an hours-long court proceeding in Kinshasa, according to Inspector General of Finance Jules Alingeti. It was not immediately known what specific charges Longondo faced or whether he had retained a lawyer. The alleged acts of mismanagement came to light during investigations carried out at the Ministry of Health and the Central Bank of Congo, Alingeti said.
• U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China’s leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday of a review ordered by President Joe Biden. According to an unclassified summary, four members of the U.S. intelligence community say with low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believes with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab. Analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon and most agencies believe the virus was not genetically engineered. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday that China “continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.” Reaching a conclusion about what caused the virus likely requires China’s co-operation, the office said.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
“We’re telling people to get the vaccine ’til we’re blue in the face.”
— Na’alehu Anthony, Director of COVID Pau in Hawaii
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LOCAL NEWS
RM halts controversial block parties
The health district with the lowest vaccine uptake rate in Manitoba has decided to cancel its block party program because COVID-19 cases are expected to rise.The Rural Municipality of Stanley, near Wi...
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Erik Pindera:
Weekend festivities put focus on safety
Organizers of large public events this weekend say their rules should keep patrons safe from COVID-19.
The Red River Exhibition will open today for the first time since 2019, with its new carnival, du...
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NATIONAL NEWS
Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press:
Edmonton Elks boost COVID-19 vaccinations
EDMONTON - The Edmonton Elks say they’re now up to almost 84 per cent of players and coaches vaccinated for COVID-19, but the postponed game with the Toronto Argonauts remains up in the air.
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The Canadian Press:
B.C. provides $12.9 million for fairs, festivals
Between now and election day, the success of Justin Trudeau’s re-election bid will likely be in the hands of swing progressive voters. He must hope that the prospect of a possible Conservative government will drive at least some of those who have been looking to support the NDP and the Bloc to reconsider, Chantal Hébert writes.
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Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press:
Ontario LTC minister defends not mandating shots
TORONTO - Ontario's long-term care minister is defending the province's decision not to mandate COVID-19 shots for nursing-home workers after some of the largest operators in the sector announced plan...
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Elena De Luigi, The Canadian Press:
Ontario universities offering hybrid frosh week
TORONTO - Several Ontario universities will be going hybrid for orientation week next month. The University of Toronto, York University, Hamilton's McMaster University, Trent University in Peterboroug...
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Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press:
Quebec politicians' vaccine passport info hacked
MONTREAL - Quebec's government was forced to defend its vaccine passport system on Friday amid news that prominent politicians' vaccination information had allegedly been hacked. The Health Department...
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Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press:
N.B. civil servants must get vaccine by Sept. 13
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick civil servants have until Sept. 13 to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be forced to wear masks and undergo regular testing, according to an internal government memo...
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The Canadian Press:
Five new cases of COVID-19 on P.E.I. Friday
CHARLOTTETOWN - Health officials in Prince Edward Island reported five new cases of COVID-19 in the province today. All five people recently travelled outside Atlantic Canada and they are self-isolat...
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The Canadian Press:
Nova Scotia reports nine new COVID-19 cases
HALIFAX - Health officials in Nova Scotia reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and four more recoveries from the disease, as another university strengthened its vaccination requirements.Four ...
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Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press:
N.W.T. communities in lockdown as COVID cases grow
Tommy Kakfwi says walking through Fort Good Hope in the Northwest Territories is a bit like being in a graveyard. The community of about 500 people has 89 cases of COVID-19, so one of every five or si...
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar And Jay Reeves, The Associated Press:
More COVID-19 shots, studies offer hope for US schools
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials offered new hope for the safety of U.S. schoolchildren threatened by COVID-19 on Friday as Gulf Coast hospitals already full of unvaccinated patients braced for the nightma...
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Ben Finley And Sudhin Thanawala, The Associated Press:
EXPLAINER: What happens when an ICU reaches capacity?
ATLANTA (AP) — The latest surge in coronavirus cases is overwhelming many intensive care units, causing hospitals and states to run out of ICU beds in some locations.Kentucky and Texas broke records t...
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COVID-19 BASICS
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