COVID-19 death raises Manitoba total to 12

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This article was published 18/08/2020 (1594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The death of a Manitoba man in his 60s marks the province’s 12th fatality related to COVID-19.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said Wednesday the man was from the Grey health district in the Southern Health region, and was a previously announced case connected to a known cluster.

The man had been hospitalized and was in intensive care.

The province announced 15 new cases of the virus Wednesday, and a five-day test positivity rate of 1.6 per cent. The new cases were announced in the Prairie Mountain Health region (13), Southern Health (one) and Winnipeg (one).

Roussin said early investigations indicate those in Prairie Mountain are mostly related to contacts to known cases.

A confirmed COVID-19 case has also been identified at the J.R. Simplot Co. potato processing plant in Portage la Prairie.

On Wednesday, Steelworkers Local 9074 president Paul Lussier said the company informed workers Monday a colleague had been diagnosed with the disease. Local 9074 represents about 250 workers at the plant on the outskirts of the city.

“They assured me that any area this person had worked in and or had any contact within the plant, that they were doing a clean,” Lussier said.

He said the company, in the past, has been diligent when it comes to safety procedures and staff are screened before work. Some staff at the plant, however, reside in Brandon, and some are shuttled in from Winnipeg, Lussier said.

Public health officials have noted community transmission is occurring in both Winnipeg and Brandon, where a large cluster of cases connected to the Maple Leaf Foods Inc. pork processing plant is being managed.

“I’ve been impressed on what they’ve (Simplot) done up to this point, but I am a little bit leery on where this could go, looking at what happened at Maple Leaf, as well as in Alberta,” Lussier said, referencing outbreaks at other food processing facilities.

Josh Jordan, Simplot senior manager of public relations and communications, said all employees who may have had direct or prolonged contact with the affected staff member are required by the company to self-quarantine for 14 days. He said Manitoba public health officials have also been notified.

“No other employees have shown any symptoms,” Jordan said. “We, of course, have talked, and have been since March, to our employees about the importance of self-monitoring, not coming to work if they are showing any symptoms, and those sorts of things.”

Jordan said the staff member had been in contact with 12 other employees — both inside and outside the workplace — and all are currently in isolation and have been tested. The plant did not cease its normal operations, he said, though areas where the employee had visited were isolated and cleaned.

The company is also monitoring the outbreak situation in Brandon, Jordan said, and has restrictions related to travel and visitors in addition to strict screening and distancing protocols.

Aerospace and aviation company StandardAero, which has multiple locations in Winnipeg, said over the weekend it was notified one of its employees also tested positive for COVID-19.

Kyle Hultquist, a spokesman for the company, said Manitoba Public Health was informed and is handling contact tracing.

“If any other employees were considered a close contact, Manitoba Public Health has been in contact with them and we are following all provincial health and safety guidelines,” Hultquist said Wednesday. “Upon notification of the test, we also completed an extensive and thorough cleaning of impacted areas.”

Six people were in hospital Wednesday with the novel coronavirus, including two in intensive care. There are 223 known active cases in Manitoba, and 528 individuals have recovered from COVID-19.

Public health is also advising of a potential exposure to COVID-19 on Aug. 13 and 14, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Aug. 15, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Wigwam Restaurant (132 Wasagaming Dr.) in Riding Mountain National Park.

Risk of transmission is considered to be low. People should seek testing if they develop symptoms, officials said.

The province is again reminding people only those who have COVID-19 symptoms should go for testing, and employers should only send staff for a test if they have symptoms or if recommended by public health.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca