COVID-19 Bulletin #231
October 24, 2020

Public health officials advise the 49th and 50th deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported, both females in their 70s from the Winnipeg health region. Both cases were previously announced and one is linked to an outbreak at Misericordia Place. 
 
Today, 153 new cases of the virus have been identified as of 9:30 a.m. This number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 4,088. 
 
Today’s data shows:
eight cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
15 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
15 cases in the Northern health region;
24 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
91 cases in the Winnipeg health region.
 
The data also shows:
1,922 active cases and 2,116 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
there are 65 people in hospital and 10 people in intensive care; and
the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 50.
 
Laboratory system data, including daily testing numbers, total testing numbers and the test positivity rate, will be unavailable today due to scheduled systems upgrades. Data is expected to be available tomorrow.
 
Public health officials have advised that outbreaks have been declared at Victoria General Hospital in Winnipeg on units 5N and 5S, and at the Agassiz Youth Centre in Portage la Prairie. Both facilities have been elevated to red on the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System. 
 
With the growing number of cases in the Northern health region and Churchill, the province is introducing targeted measures under the Restricted (orange) level of the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System to reduce community spread of the virus by reducing close-prolonged contact  between people. These measures will come into effect on Monday, Oct. 26, for a minimum of two weeks. For more information, visit:
 
Additional measures will be put in place for school in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region and the Northern health regions under the Restricted Level (orange), effective Oct. 26, 2020. For more information, visit www.manitoba.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs/winnipeg/index.html#wmr_schools
 
All other possible exposure locations are listed online by region at the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System webpage. For up-to-date information on possible public exposures to COVID-19 in regions, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event and click on your region.
 
The chief provincial public health officer strongly encourages Manitobans to reduce the number of close contacts outside their household and avoid closed-in or crowded spaces. In addition, they should focus on these fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19:
Stay home if you are sick.
Wash/sanitize your hands and cover your cough.
Physically distance when you are with people outside your household.
If you cannot physically distance, wear a mask to help reduce the risk to others or as required by public health orders.
 
Unless recommended by public health officials, only individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should go for testing. Individuals with symptoms are asked to seek testing as soon as possible once symptoms are present. Employers are asked to only send employees for testing if they have symptoms or if testing has been recommended by public health officials.
 
The online assessment tool can be found at https://sharedhealthmb.ca/covid19/screening-tool/and COVID-19 symptoms can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/about.html#collapse4.
 
For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19
 
For up-to-date information on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System, visit:
 
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