This story will be updated when the press conference begins and throughout the conference as it runs.
Manitoba health officials say another 14 Manitobans with COVID-19 have died, but the province’s daily case numbers fell for the second-straight day Wednesday.
Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said 277 new cases of the virus had been identified across the province as of Wednesday morning.
Read more: Record number of coronavirus deaths reported in Manitoba, but case numbers slowly dropping
Health officials announced 283 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and said a record-setting 16 more Manitobans with the virus had died.
“We do see our numbers, again, stabilizing, (but) they’re stabilizing at a number we still can’t sustain,” Roussin said Wednesday.
“We need to continue our hard work to bring these numbers down — we can’t rest at these numbers — even though we’ve seen some minor improvements.”
Wednesday’s new cases bring Manitoba’s total COVID-19 cases reported since March to 17,384. The province’s death toll now sits at 342.
The latest deaths include:
- a woman in her 40s from the Winnipeg health region;
- a man in his 60s from the Southern health region;
- a man in his 60s from the Winnipeg health region;
- a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region.
- a man in his 70s from the Southern health region;
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at the St. Norbert Personal Care Home;
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at the Golden Links Lodge;
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at the St. Norbert Personal Care Home;
- a woman in her 80s from the Southern health region;
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region;
- a woman in her 80s from the Southern health region, linked to the outbreak at Rest Haven Nursing Home;
- a woman in her 90s from the Southern health region, linked to the outbreak at Rest Haven Nursing Home;
- a woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at the Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home; and
- a woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at the Charleswood Care Centre.
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The new cases include 200 in the Winnipeg Health region, 24 cases in the Southern Health region, 10 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 28 cases in the Northern Health region, and 15 cases in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
It’s the second day in a row — and only the fourth time in three weeks — that Manitoba’s daily list of new cases has been below 300.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister warned Tuesday that Manitobans will likely have to deal with strict COVID-19 measures into the winter.
Pallister said some restrictions on public gatherings and business openings will likely have to continue beyond Friday of next week — when they’re set to expire — because daily case counts remain too high and intensive care capacity is close to the limit.
Roussin said the government is already working on what restrictions might continue beyond next week, but did not divulge details.
Manitoba has been reporting hundreds of new cases and multiple deaths from COVID-19 in daily updates for weeks.
As of Wednesday, there were 351 people in hospital — up from 338 on Tuesday — with 51 people in intensive care due to COVID-19, up three from the day before.
The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate was 13.2 per cent provincially and 14.5 per cent in Winnipeg as of Wednesday morning.
There were 8,970 active cases of COVID-19 across Manitoba Wednesday, according to provincial data, but Roussin has said the number is likely inflated due to a backlog in case monitoring.
–More to come.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
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