Manitoba Hutterite colonies hit by COVID-19 By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 16, 2020

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2020 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Manitoba Hutterite colonies have one resident each who has tested positive for COVID-19 in cases that can be traced to a funeral for three teenagers in Alberta.

The Springfield Hutterite Colony, located 50 kilometres east of Winnipeg off Highway 15, has one family in isolation after the father tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning from a business trip to Alberta. The Clearview Hutterite Colony, located 50 kilometres west of Winnipeg near Elm Creek, has one woman in isolation after she tested positive.

Josh Waldner, the secretary-treasurer of the 108-member Springfield colony, said one of its residents was in Alberta when the funeral took place for three females who died in a boating accident south of Lethbridge.

Naomi Waldner, a 17-year-old member of Alberta’s Spring Valley Hutterite Colony, and her cousins, Linda Waldner, 17, and Martha Waldner, 16, were part of a group of 10 who went swimming and boating on the river on June 10.

Earlier this month, Alberta Health confirmed there were people with COVID-19 at the funeral while the nearby County of Warner had 39 active cases. The county was the only one on “watch” status in the province as public health officials monitored the outbreak.

“They asked for him to come (to the funeral) and he went there,” Josh Waldner said on Thursday. “Otherwise, he would have come home.

“He later tested positive… but he has been on lockdown well beyond 14 days now. He has been in his own house and his meals are delivered. He’s now clear, but you don’t want to trust it. We want him to take another test before he comes out.”

“We’re not immune to it – we’re all just flesh and blood.”
– Josh Waldner, the secretary-treasurer of Springfield Hutterite Colony

Waldner said the man’s wife and teenage children have joined him in the lockdown.

“His whole family was isolated and they are still in isolation,” he said. “On Friday he will get tested. But, as far as we know, no one else has had symptoms.

“We’re not immune to it – we’re all just flesh and blood.”

At the 87-member Clearview colony, secretary Henry Gross said a woman had tested positive for the coronavirus about two or three weeks ago.

Although she never went to the funeral, “the Springfield (Colony) group dropped by for a visit,” Gross said.

“They should have just stayed there.”

As for the woman, who Gross said is isolating by herself, “she’s always the healthiest person around.

“She just has to stay at home for another couple of days. She stays in her own home. Everybody else is good.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief public health officer, would not confirm Thursday if any of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days are from Hutterite colonies.

Roussin did confirm that one of the five new cases announced on Tuesday is a woman in her 20s who lives in the Southern Health region and who is classified as an unknown acquisition, which means community spread. He said three of the five cases confirmed that day were connected to travel. The province said one of the travellers flew on WestJet from Winnipeg to Calgary on June 26 and returned from Calgary on July 2.

Roussin said information about an infected person, including where they live or had travelled to, would only be divulged if it’s necessary for community health reasons.

Mark Waldner, of the Hutterian Safety Council, who initially responded to an email from the Free Press, by saying he was curious about the newspaper’s sources, did not respond to any further messages for comment on the virus in the two Manitoba colonies.

But, in a July 8 bulletin to Hutterite communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and South Dakota, the council said “in Manitoba, Hutterite communities have been fortunate thus far, but COVID-19 will inevitably arrive as well.”

While the council said in the bulletin that travel between Alberta and Saskatchewan is now allowed by the two provinces, “due to the numerous outbreaks in Hutterite communities in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the council recommends strong caution when travelling to or from the west and that travel is best avoided for now.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.

   Read full biography