Manitoba reports 245 new COVID-19 cases, 13 more deaths

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This article was published 08/12/2020 (1934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MANITOBA has reported 13 more pandemic deaths and 245 new cases of COVID-19.

Of the 13 deaths announced Tuesday, 10 are from the Winnipeg region: a man in 40s; a man in his 70s, two women in their 80s and a man in his 80s linked to an outbreak at Charleswood Care Centre; a woman in her 80s; a woman in her 90s connected to the outbreak at Holy Family care home; a woman in her 90s; a woman in her 90s linked to the outbreak at Park Manor; and a man in his 90s linked to the outbreak at Misericordia Health Centre.

The Southern Health region marked two deaths: a man in his 80s linked to the outbreak at Greendale Estate (Grunthal); and a woman in her 90s linked to the outbreak at Rest Haven (Steinbach).

One pandemic death was announced in Prairie Mountain Health: a woman in her 100s linked to the outbreak at Fairview Personal Care Home (Brandon).

“We’re announcing the loss of too many Manitobans daily here,” chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said during a media briefing.

As of Tuesday, 420 Manitobans had died from COVID-19. Meanwhile, 311 were in hospital, including 38 in intensive care, with the disease.

The current five-day test-positivity rate in Manitoba was 13.3 per cent; 13.9 per cent in Winnipeg.

Of the 245 new cases, 126 were from Winnipeg, 34 from Interlake-Eastern, 23 from Northern Health, 29 from Prairie Mountain, and 33 from Southern Health.

“Right now, we do need to bring down our numbers of contacts, we need to stay home as much as possible, going out only for essential reasons. But if we follow these public health recommendations and these restrictions, we’re going to continue to see these numbers come down,” Roussin said.

According to the province, 2,245 lab tests were completed Monday, bringing the total number since early February to 375,667.

A new COVID-19 outbreak was declared at Grace Hospital unit 3 South in Winnipeg.

Outbreaks at Ashern-Lakeshore General Hospital (Ashern) and Headingley Correctional Centre were declared over.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority reported 32 of the 39 long-term care facilities it oversees had active COVID-19 outbreaks.

Care homes with severe outbreaks included Bethania Mennonite, Charleswood, Fred Douglas Lodge, Golden Links Lodge, Holy Family, Oakview Place, Park Manor, and St. Norbert.

WRHA supervisors are currently on site at seven of those sites, as well as Maples, Saul & Claribel Simkin Centre, and Convalescent Home of Winnipeg.

According to the WRHA, the Canadian Red Cross is providing infection prevention and control assessments and guidance to care homes and on-site assistance at Golden Links and St. Norbert, and was deployed to Holy Family on Tuesday.

The health authority said staffing and case numbers at Maples and Simkin Centre have stabilized, though challenges still exist. Golden Links faces staffing challenges on a daily basis, the WRHA said.

As of Tuesday, 144 personal care home workers in Winnipeg have COVID-19, and many more are waiting for results of a test or isolating at home and unable to work, the WRHA said. In the past month, home care workers have filled more than 500 shifts at personal care homes, it said.

Of the 32 facilities with outbreaks, 17 had no resident cases as of Tuesday morning, and five homes had one resident case. An outbreak is declared when a single infection is found in a resident, staff member or an external service provider.

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, the COVID-19 testing centre at 1181 Portage Ave. will close Dec. 11. A new walk-in testing centre at the Garrick Centre (330 Garry St.) will open Dec. 14, and operate 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca