A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared for the Flin Flon Personal Care Home after two residents tested positive for the disease earlier this week.
The announcement was made by provincial health officials during Manitoba's Feb. 18 COVID-19 briefing and confirmed by the Northern Health Region (NHR) Friday afternoon.
"We can confirm that the NHR became aware that two residents from the Flin Flon Personal Care Home had tested positive for COVID-19. An outbreak was declared today by Public Health," reads a statement from the NHR released to The Reminder Friday.
"All measures have been put in place to keep residents and staff safe during this outbreak."
Under Manitoba policy, an outbreak in a health care or long-term care setting is declared when two or more people test positive for COVID-19 with evidence of possible transmission within the area - occasionally, one case can lead to an outbreak being declared if a person like a resident, staff member or volunteer tests positive in a "highly vulnerable setting", as defined by a medical officer of health.
According to most recent data, there are at least 2,663 people in the NHR considered to be "active cases" - people who have tested positive either through a PCR test or through a medically supervised rapid antigen test. People who test positive on a rapid test and do not report results to public health are not included, leading provincial public health officials to warn that current data is an undercount of actual COVID-19 cases. According to current data, 105 people in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon health zone are still considered as active cases.
A total of 583 Manitobans are in hospital due to COVID-19, with 33 people in intensive care - that includes 58 people hospitalized who are NHR residents, as well as six northerners in ICU.
Five areas within the NHR are currently considered to be outbreak sites, as of Feb. 18 - the Flin Flon personal care home, the Nisichawayasihk personal care home at Nelson House/Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, the Northern Spirit Manor in Thompson (where an outbreak was also declared Feb. 18) and the St. Paul's Personal Care Home in The Pas, as well as a community outbreak still considered in effect at Pukatawagan and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.
