COVID-19 crisis
Sam McNeil / The Associated PressPassengers from Wuhan stand in lines designating where they will quarantine in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Wuhan, the city at the center of the global coronavirus epidemic, lifted a 76-day lockdown and allowed people to leave for destinations across China. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
City’s death toll soars: The official death toll for Wuhan, the city where the COVID-19 outbreak began, increased by 50 per cent after the Chinese government added nearly 1,300 cases. The revised total confirmed suspicions many more people had died in China’s hardest-hit city. READ MORE
Arrested development: Young offenders will be quarantined in separate cottages at the Manitoba Youth Centre instead of at the Winnipeg Remand Centre, a memo sent to prosecutors and defence lawyers states. Dean Pritchard reports. READ MORE
Meal margins: With restaurants unable to provide dine-in service, one local restaurant owner says the cost of third-party food delivery services isn’t worth it. Eva Wasney reports. READ MORE
Spotty connections: Working from home is exacerbating the frustration many rural Manitobans already felt because of substandard internet and cell service. Martin Cash reports. READ MORE
Daily details: Provincial officials will give their regular update on the COVID-19 situation at 1 p.m. The province announced Thursday it is expanding its criteria for testing. Larry Kusch reports. READ MORE
Weather
Your forecast: Sunny with a daytime low of -10 C and a high of 10 C, wind from the south at 10 km/h increasing to 30 km/h late this morning, and wind chill as low as -15. There is a 60 per cent chance of showers starting early Saturday morning.
In case you missed it
Jemima Westcott is shown in a family handout photo from last year at her personal care home in Brandon, Man. There was no social distancing in Jemima Westcott’s small farm community in Lauder, Man., when the Spanish Flu hit over a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
Centenarian recalls Spanish Flu: A 109-year-old woman who lived through the world’s deadliest pandemic in 1918 says people should stay home to lessen the spread of the new coronavirus. Jemima Westcott is in regular contact with relatives by telephone and even video calls. The Canadian Press reports. READ MORE
Anniversary of attack: A tribute to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing on Sunday was cancelled because of pandemic restrictions. “There are a lot of things to grieve this spring, and the loss of the commemoration in person is one of them,” Mayor David Holt told The Associated Press. “But I think we’ve accepted that’s clearly the right thing to do.” READ MORE
Early morning fire: Fire crews are at the scene of a blaze in the area of Charles Street and Sutherland Avenue. We’ll have more information on the fire later today.
On this date
On April 16, 2008: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that a B.C. man who was the prime suspect in the slaying of his three children had been found almost dead, captured by an armed trapper. Parking fees were eyed at The Forks as part of a strategy to make the site carbon-neutral. Experts at a city forum discussed the AIDS epidemic in Ukraine. New on DVD was the shot-in-Winnipeg film Blue State, which was not only set in the city as well but also starred former Winnipegger Anna Paquin.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Winnipeg Free Press READ MORE
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