News Releases

Media Bulletin - Manitoba

April 21, 2020

COVID-19 Bulletin #58



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Public health officials advise one new case of COVID-19 was identified as of 9:30 a.m. today, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 255.

The data also shows:
•    seven individuals are currently hospitalized, which includes four individuals in intensive care;
•    99 active cases and 150 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19; and
•    the number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at six.

Cadham Provincial Laboratory performed 314 tests on Monday. A total of 20,319 tests have been performed since early February.

Public health officials have expanded testing criteria to ensure there is capacity to do additional testing. It is important for people showing symptoms of COVID-19, including a cough, a runny nose, a sore throat and a fever, to be tested to better determine the spread of the virus in Manitoba.

Manitobans are reminded that if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19 and meet testing criteria, they should call Health Links–Info Santé at 204-788-8200 or (toll-free) at 1-888-315-9257.

For up-to-date information on testing criteria and community screening sites, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/locations.html. For more information and to access the online screening tool for COVID-19, visit www.manitoba.ca/covid19.

Public health officials advise Manitobans to stay home as much as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes only travelling to the cottage or second residence if needed. If people must travel, they are encourage to:
•    only travel with family members,
•    not visit with others on arrival,
•    avoid stopping for gas or other supplies on the way, and
•    only visit local health-care providers in case of emergency.

Manitoba health officials are taking every available and appropriate step to protect the province’s health-care workforce from exposure to COVID-19 so they are able to take care of sick and vulnerable Manitobans over the coming weeks and months. This includes steps to enhance screening at all health-care facilities, implement visitor restrictions, encourage virtual visit options and postpone non-essential services.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a supplement to these and other measures including strict hand hygiene and both social and physical distancing.

Similar to other jurisdictions, Manitoba has engaged experts in infection prevention and control, and occupational and environmental health and safety to identify the supplies required to protect workers in critical and priority services.

Settings and situations have been categorized according to the level of risk to workers and to the population they are caring for and the required PPE has been set out accordingly. These include:
•    green zones, which are settings and situations involving care or service for individuals who are not considered COVID-19 suspects;
•    orange zones, which are settings and situations involving care or service for individuals who meet the criteria for COVID-19 testing, AND who have been tested AND whose results are pending; and
•    red zones, which are settings and situations involving care or service for individuals who have been tested and confirmed to have COVID-19.

To conserve PPE for health-care workers, public health officials are recommending all people who enter a health-care facility wear a cloth mask to protect others. In addition, patients and clients are encouraged to wear non-medical face masks during any health-care interaction, as well as when using public transit, handi-transit or a taxi.

A comprehensive list of Manitoba government COVID-19 measures can be found at:
https://manitoba.ca/bg/2020/04/covid19.html.

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