Manitoba tops country in active cases per capita By: Larry Kusch Posted: 5:40 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020

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This article was published 24/08/2020 (1487 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Manitoba recorded its 13th COVID-19 death on Tuesday, it also achieved the dubious distinction of leading the country in active cases per 100,000 in population, surpassing Alberta.

A woman in her 90s who had resided at Bethesda Place personal care home in Steinbach is the latest Manitoban to succumb to the virus.

A provincial spokeswoman said no new cases have been identified at the care home, which has seen seven people infected with the virus, including four staff members.

With 25 new cases announced Tuesday, Manitoba eclipsed the 1,000 mark at 1,018. Well over half the cases — 596 — have occurred this month.

Manitoba currently has 399 active cases of the coronavirus; on July 13, there was only one.

Per 100,000 in population, Manitoba’s active case count now stands at 28.67, edging past Alberta’s (26.56). Neighbouring Saskatchewan has an active case count of 8.29 per 100,000 people.

More than half of all active cases in Manitoba — 203 — are located in the Prairie Mountain Health region, including 120 in the city of Brandon. The Southern Health region has 94 active cases, the Winnipeg health region has 92, Interlake-Eastern has nine and the Northern health region has one.

While nearly 400 Manitobans currently have COVID-19, very few are winding up in hospital. As of Tuesday, there were seven people hospitalized with the virus, one of whom was in intensive care.

Health officials have reacted to the latest surge in cases by announcing new measures and restrictions in the Prairie Mountain Health region, including mandating the wearing of masks in all indoor public places throughout the region.

While the COVID-19 case count continued to climb on Tuesday, the province’s current five-day test positivity rate edged lower to 2.7 per cent from a high of 2.9 per cent the previous day. On Monday, 1,428 laboratory tests were completed, bringing the overall total to 128,576.

Of the 25 new cases announced Tuesday, 10 are in the Prairie Mountain Health region, with nine in Southern Health region and six in the Winnipeg health region.

Manitoba health officials have attributed much of the recent surge in cases to a growing cluster in Brandon — including dozens employed at the Maple Leaf Foods plant — and a testing blitz in Hutterite communities.

— with files from Michael Pereira

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter

Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.

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