Manitoba marks 15 more pandemic deaths, 292 new cases of COVID-19

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This article was published 16/12/2020 (2076 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has announced its fourth consecutive day of less than 300 new COVID-19 cases.

On Wednesday, the province reported 292 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 15 more pandemic deaths

Ten of the most recent fatalities were from Winnipeg: a man in his 40s; a woman in her 50s; a man in his 60s; two women in their 70s; a man in his 70s; a woman in her 80s; two men in their 90s; and a woman in her 100s.

Two were from the Interlake-Eastern health region (a woman in her 40s, a man in his 50s), two were from Prairie Mountain (a man in his 70s, a man in his 80s), and one was from Southern Health (a man in his 80s).

Eight out of the 15 deaths were linked to outbreaks at personal care homes.

The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate in Winnipeg was 13.7 per cent, and 13.6 per cent across the province.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin’s message to Manitobans was brief Wednesday, and focused on the holidays: even as the province plans to vaccinate 900 heath-care workers over the next three days, the public needs to remain vigilant.

“We know that this holiday season is going to be much different than last year and other years. Right now, I need to remind everyone to stay safe at home with the people you live with,” Roussin said.

“We can’t have people visit right now, even over the holiday season. We have to stay safe.”

Roussin also took time to send a message directly to children, saying while the pandemic restriction rules may seem difficult, they will pass if everyone sticks to public health guidelines.

“Premier (Brian) Pallister and I, we’ve worked with others in the government and we’ve made some special changes for Santa Claus,” he said.

“Santa Claus is certainly an essential worker, meaning he’s allowed to come to Manitoba, and able to come to anyone’s house.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_