Manitoba, northern regions report lowest new COVID-19 case numbers since October

How many COVID-19 cases were found in northern Manitoba today? 30? Nope. 20? Not quite. 10? Bingo.

Manitoba had one of its best COVID-19 days in months Wednesday, reporting only 39 net new cases province-wide - the fewest cases found in one day throughout the province since October. The provincial five-day test positivity rate is down to 4.6 per cent, also the lowest seen in the province since October.

Provincial health officials announced the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in the Northern Health Region (NHR) that the region has seen in weeks. The district last reported a number that low when 10 new cases were found Feb. 7, the lowest number seen since Jan. 3, where only three new cases were reported throughout the north. The NHR currently has 577 active cases of COVID-19, down from 586 reported Tuesday.

Most of the new cases were reported in the current hardest-hit district in the NHR, the Cross Lake-Pimicikamak district. Canadian Armed Forces personnel landed in Cross Lake Feb. 23 to assist in shutting down the outbreak, which has led to a full lockdown throughout Cross Lake and Pimicikamak Cree Nation. There are now 221 active cases throughout the district.

Two NHR districts - the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon and Pukatawagan/Mathias Colomb districts - have no active COVID-19 cases. No cases are active in the Churchill area - which is covered by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority - or listed as "unknown district" on the provincial COVID-19 dashboard.

No new outbreaks or possible exposures to COVID-19 were announced in the NHR Wednesday. Two outbreaks are listed by the provincial government - the community wide outbreak designated for Cross Lake and another outbreak declared at the Grassroots Early Learning and Child Care Centre.

Seven schools in northern Manitoba have reported at least one case of COVID-19 in the last three weeks, including five in Thompson. The Mel Johnson School in Wabowden has reported four cases in the last two weeks, while one case has recently been reported at Gillam School.

One new death from COVID-19 was reported in Manitoba Feb. 24 - a woman in her 90s in Winnipeg whose death was connected to an outbreak at the Oakview Place Personal Care Home. A total of 1,196 people have active COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, with 207 people in hospital due to COVID-19 and 29 of those people in intensive care. Since the pandemic began, 887 people have died due to the disease in Manitoba.

Saskatchewan also reported progress on the COVID-19 front, seeing only 56 new cases found in the province Wednesday. Nine of those cases were reported in the far north east 2 health zone, which covers Pelican Narrows, where cases have seen a steady rise in the past week. The district also covers Creighton, Denare Beach and Sandy Bay, along with other communities in Saskatchewan near Flin Flon. There are now 67 active cases in the far north east 2 district - the local health facility in Pelican Narrows, the Angelique Canada Health Centre, stated there were 51 active cases in the community as of Feb. 23.