Pukatawagan, Pelican Narrows case counts increase as Flin Flon stays pat

Flin Flon's COVID-19 situation is stabilizing after a handful of new cases last week, but the situation in Pukatawagan and Pelican Narrows is worsening. Both communities have well over 100 active cases of the disease.

Flin Flon now sits at six active cases as of March 11 according to provincial data, with 68 people in the community having had the disease and recovered. The community reported seven cases March 10, but one case was moved from "active" to "recovered" as of Thursday.

Pukatawagan has seen most of the new cases reported in the Northern Health Region (NHR) in the past few days, with 26 of the NHR's 50 new active COVID-19 cases being reported in the health district covering Pukatawagan and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN). The community, which was down to zero COVID-19 cases late last month, has jumped up within days to 120 active cases according to the provincial government dashboard. The current total of cases may be much higher - local leaders said nearly 150 people have active COVID-19 cases in the community as of early March 11.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Red Cross have arrived in Pukatawagan to deal with the increase in cases, including a rapid response team and an assessment team. More military and medical personnel are set to arrive later this week, with another 30 CAF members due to enter Pukatawagan Thursday. A full lockdown has been put in place by MCCN chief and council. Updates have been posted and publicly shared on community Facebook pages and on local radio.

No deaths have been reported in Pukatawagan due to COVID-19.

In Pelican Narrows, the outgoing community outbreak is slowly worsening. Another 15 cases of COVID-19 were found in Pelican March 10 according to the local Angelique Canada Health Centre, bringing the community up to 124 active cases. Since the pandemic first arrived in Pelican Narrows, over 400 people have been infected. According to the centre, there are now 439 people in the community in isolation, with three people in hospital.

Across northern Manitoba, most regions are reporting either stable case loads or slight changes. One death due to COVID-19 was announced in northern Manitoba, a man in his 70s from the Thompson-Mystery Lake district. The man is the 35th person to die from COVID-19 in northern Manitoba. 

Some new cases were found in the districts with the highest active case loads in the NHR - the Cross Lake/Pimicikamak and Island Lake districts. Five more people have been reported as sick in each of the communities. Nine more cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Thompson/Mystery Lake district, which is now down to 21 active COVID-19 cases.

For more data about COVID-19 in northern Manitoba, see below.