Manitoba records 35 new COVID-19 cases

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This article was published 29/08/2020 (1591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A clinic at Brandon’s hospital has been forced to adopt COVID-19 outbreak protocols, including restricting visitors, after three cases were linked to it as the province announced 35 new cases of the virus on Sunday.

There were 462 active cases Sunday; the number of Manitobans infected with the virus since the outbreak began has reached 1,186.

The province said investigations indicate three cases previously identified in Brandon are linked to a second-floor unit of the Assiniboine Centre of the Brandon Regional Health Centre. Families and staff have been notified and close contacts are being identified as the investigations continue.

“While the risk is assessed to be low, the site has initiated outbreak protocols out of an abundance of caution. This means the second floor of the Assiniboine Centre is putting additional measures in place to further reduce the risk to residents and staff, and is restricting visitation,” the province said in a release.

The second floor of the Assiniboine Centre has moved to the critical (red) stage of the pandemic response system. The centre’s website says the second floor has a rehabilitation clinic.

The province’s newly adopted colour code system includes red, orange, yellow and green — to denote different levels of restrictions that can be imposed when case numbers rise.

Twelve of the new cases are in western Manitoba, where outbreaks have been identified in two personal care homes in Brandon: Hillcrest Place and Rideau Park. The homes declared an outbreak after a health-care worker had tested positive at each facility.

Five of Sunday’s new cases are in southern Manitoba, where a cluster has broken out at the Bethesda Place care home in Steinbach. Last week, two women in their 90s, who were residents of the home, died from COVID-19. Fourteen Manitobans have died from the virus since it struck the province.

The province said 17 of the new cases are in Winnipeg and one new case was reported in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. 

Preliminary investigations show that eight of the new cases are close contacts of cases that were reported earlier. Additional case investigations are continuing.

Preliminary numbers show 1,542 laboratory tests were completed on Saturday, bringing the total number of tests completed since early February to 134,920. The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 2.2 per cent.

“Manitobans are strongly encouraged to return to the fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This means not going out while you feel ill, practising proper hand hygiene, covering your cough and physical distancing when you are with people outside your household. If you can’t physical distance, wear a mask,” the release said. 

Only people who have COVID-19 symptoms should go for testing as soon as possible, the province said.