Recoveries up across northern Manitoba, Flin Flon district down to three cases, Thompson sees spike

Active COVID-19 cases in northern Manitoba dropped Wednesday, but some communities - namely, Thompson - are seeing some trouble.

Over 100 new recoveries from the disease were announced in northern regions Feb. 3, along with 55 new COVID-19 cases in the Northern Health Region (NHR). None of the new cases were reported in the district that covers Flin Flon, the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district - in fact, that district is now down to three active cases after another person who had the disease was marked as "recovered".

The district that saw the most new cases was the Thompson/Mystery Lake district, where 35 new cases were reported overnight. Accounting for recoveries, the district has jumped from 89 active cases Tuesday to 106 active cases Wednesday. Since the pandemic began, 594 people in the Thompson district have tested positive.

The north remains Manitoba's COVID-19 hotspot, due in large part to persisting outbreaks in the Island Lake and Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district. The Island Lake district now has 803 cases of COVID-19 according to provincial data, while the Shamattawa district is sitting at 367 active cases once again.

Cases are not confined to the northeast portion of the region, however. Provincial numbers show 71 cases remain active in The Pas/OCN/Kelsey district. A full list of the most recent provincial COVID-19 data for the north can be found below.

Throughout Manitoba, 125 new net cases have been reported and 3,358 people are currently considered as "active cases". For hospitalizations, 260 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, 34 of whom are in intensive care. Three more deaths have been announced province-wide due to COVID-19, bringing Manitoba's total up to 835.

Saskatchewan

Like they have been for the past couple weeks, Saskatchewan's COVID-19 numbers remain higher than Manitoba's, but cases in the health zone nearest to Flin Flon are starting to level off.

Of the 194 new cases announced Wednesday by Saskatchewan health officials, six were found in the far north east health zone. Out of those six cases, two were found in the far north east 2 health zone, which includes Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows and other Saskatchewan communities near Flin Flon.

In total, the far north east 2 health zone now has 53 active cases. More detailed data about case locations has not been made available by the province, but one community health centre - the Angelique Canada Health Centre in Pelican Narrows - reported 13 active cases in the community as of Jan. 29, the last day for which data was available.