WINNIPEG

Manitoba announces 28 new COVID-19 cases on Monday

Danton Unger CTVNewsWinnipeg.ca Editorial Producer

Published Monday, August 31, 2020 7:56AM CST Last Updated Monday, August 31, 2020 12:43PM CST

Text:

WINNIPEG -- The province has announced 28 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, as well as a jump in hospitalizations.

On Monday, Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, and Manitoba's Health Minister Cameron Friesen, said the new cases bring the total number of active cases to 469.

"This is probably our new norm. We are going to see peaks and valleys of this. We are going to see these indicators go up and then eventually come down, just waiting for another peak," Roussin said.

"Finding those ways to, as we always say, live with this virus is going to be necessary, because it's going to be very difficult to respond with significant restrictions each and every time we see numbers going up."

The new cases announced on Monday include:

two new cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
13 new cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
six new cases in Southern Health–Santé Sud; and
seven cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The province said preliminary investigation have identified 14 of the cases announced today are close contacts linked to previously announced cases. One of the cases was linked to travel. Roussin said currently the remaining 13 cases are linked to community-based transmission, but said the investigations may not be complete for all cases.

He said in the past seven days, there are 32 cases that health officials have not been able to how the people became infected. Two of these undetermined cases are in Southern Health, 16 are in Prairie Mountain Health, and 14 are in Winnipeg.

So far, 731 people have recovered, and the number of COVID-related deaths remains at 14.The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba since March is now at 1,214. The province said the current five-day test positivity rate is at 2.1 per cent.

COVID-19 cases in Manitoba
Infogram

As of Monday morning, the province said 11 people are in hospital, one of whom is in intensive care. Hospitalization data was not available over the weekend due to "data system upgrades," the province said. The last reported numbers were on August 28, when there were five people in hospital, including one person in intensive care.

Roussin said if public health officials continue to see trends of COVID-19 cases increasing and community-based transmission in other health regions, then it is possible masks could be mandated in the province.

"We've had quite significant restrictions in the past, and I think that the goal is to not have to return back to that," he said, adding Manitobans need to return to the fundamentals, not rely on restrictions.

"The next public health intervention that we have before restrictions is masks."

WHAT MANITOBA DISTRICT HAS THE MOST CASES

The Prairie Mountain Health region continues to have the highest number of COVID-19 cases, with a total of 250 active cases as of Monday. The majority of these cases are in the Brandon district, which has 168 active cases.

Roussin said on Monday there is also three care homes and a rehabilitation centre in Brandon that also have confirmed cases of COVID-19. These include Hillcrest Place, Rideau Park, and Fairview Personal Care Home, and the Assiniboine Centre at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Bethesda Place care home in Steinbach also declared an outbreak earlier in August.

COVID-19 in Manitoba by regions
Infogram

Not including Brandon, the districts with the highest number of active COVID-19 cases include: