COVID-19 case numbers drop in Manitoba, Pelican Narrows, rise in remote communities

Manitoba health officials gave the province an early Christmas gift of sorts Dec. 21 - the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost two months.

The province reported 166 net new cases of COVID-19 on the shortest day of the year, including 25 cases within the Northern Health Region. Four deaths were reported Monday due to COVID-19, each from southern Manitoba communities.

Within the district of Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon, only two cases of COVID-19 remain active. According to the most recent provincial health data, 32 people have had the disease and recovered, while one person who tested positive for COVID-19 has died.

That trend hasn’t continued throughout northern Manitoba, including in some remote communities. Active cases of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba are at an all-time high, with 897 people still having the disease and total cases in the region likely to hit 2,000 before Jan. 1. Most of the cases are centred around three areas of community spread - one each in the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake, Island Lake and Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake health districts.

Cases in the Shamattawa district are centred around Shamattawa First Nation, where 282 people out of a community of around 1,300 people have active COVID-19 cases as of Dec. 21 according to provincial data. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) remain in the community, but a First Nations rapid response team working in Shamattawa has left town according to Chief Eric Redhead. In an interview with CBC Dec. 19, Redhead said the team leaving cut the town’s testing capabilities from 70 people a day down to the low double digits. The response team is slated to return to Shamattawa Dec. 28 - the same day CAF personnel are slated to leave.

The Red Sucker Lake outbreak has also brought CAF personnel up north, with 35 people entering the community Dec. 17 to assist health care workers and essential staff. In the Island Lake district - which includes Red Sucker Lake - there are 233 active cases of COVID-19 according to provincial data.

The Bunibonibee/Oxford House district cases - up to 144 active, as of Dec. 21 - are centred around Oxford House/Bunibonibee Cree Nation. Elders from the community are being evacuated from the community and taken to the Holy Family Home in Winnipeg.

Elsewhere in the north, case numbers in The Pas/OCN/Kelsey - at one point, the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the region - have stayed steady in the high double digits. The district now has 86 active cases and reported four new cases Monday. The district has had over 400 COVID-19 cases, including six deaths tied to the disease. Two community outbreaks remain active in The Pas - one at the Rod McGillivary Care Home on Opaskwayak Cree Nation and another at St. Anthony’s Hospital in the acute care inpatient unit.

Cases in Thompson/Mystery Lake have rose in recent days, due in large part to two new outbreaks in the district. Outbreaks have been reported at both the Northern Spirit Manor and the medical, surgical and pediatric ward of Thompson General Hospital. Active cases in the district are now at 69 as of Dec. 21.

All other northern regions have fewer than 20 active COVID-19 cases, including the Pukatawagan-Mathias Colomb district - four people in the district are listed as active cases.

Throughout Manitoba, 5,736 people have active cases of COVID-19. Of that group, 310 people are in hospital with the disease - 42 of those people are in intensive care.

Saskatchewan

The situation with COVID-19 in Saskatchewan is similar to that in Manitoba, but there is progress being made near Flin Flon.

In the far north east 2 zone - which includes Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and other communities near Flin Flon - there are 55 active COVID-19 cases as of Dec. 21, less than half the active cases in the zone reported last week. Two new active cases were reported in the zone Dec. 21. Cases within Pelican Narrows are seeing a noticeable drop - according to the community’s public health centre, 16 active cases remain in Pelican Narrows. Since an outbreak in the community began last month, 162 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Two people remain hospitalized as of Monday with the disease, while two deaths have been tied to COVID-19 in the community.

The province reported more new cases than Manitoba and exactly as many deaths - 206 new cases were found, along with four deaths, all in people age 60 or older in Regina.

Saskatchewan has 3,990 active COVID-19 cases, with 131 people hospitalized with the disease and 20 people in intensive care.