More than half of Manitoba's 222 new cases of COVID-19 in the north

There are three more deaths and 222 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba on Sunday, the day after the province loosened restrictions in the southern half of the province.

For the second day in a row, more than half of the new cases — 116 — are in the north, a provincial news release said.

On Saturday, 216 cases of the virus were reported. Of those, 118  were in the Northern Health Region.

Some of the new cases are in Fox Lake Cree Nation, which is battling an outbreak. Although some recoveries are being reported, the First Nation, which is about 700 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, saw 11 new cases over the past two days.

"We've still got a long way to go. Many families are isolating. Some have been moved to isolation units in Thompson. We have a couple in hospital," said Chief Morris Beardy — who is also positive for COVID-19 — in a statement, .

"Additional supports and public health nurses from the Northern Regional Health Authority have been brought in to help."

The remaining cases reported Sunday are in the Winnipeg (61), Prairie Mountain (22), Interlake-Eastern (20) and Southern (three) health regions.

The five-day test positivity rate — a rolling average of the number of tests that come back positive — jumped to 10.6 per cent provincially, up from 9.8 per cent the day prior. In Winnipeg, that rate is 6.4 per cent, down slightly from 6.5 per cent on Saturday.

The number of Manitobans in hospital is also increasing, according to provincial data. On Sunday, there were 278 people in hospital, up by five from the day before. There are 42 people with COVID-19 in intensive care, which is up from 40 the day before.

Of the deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, all are linked to existing outbreaks, including:

• A man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region, linked to an outbreak at the McCreary/Alonsa Personal Care Home.
• A woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to an outbreak at the Holy Family Personal Care Home.
• A woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to an outbreak at Concordia Place personal care home.

The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Manitoba is now 799.

A previously announced death was deleted from both the total case counts and the total death counts, as they were added as a COVID-19 positive case in error, the release says.

'It's a disaster here'

Since the targeted lockdown in the fall, the Prairie Mountain Health region has seen relatively few COVID-19 cases. However, there's a number of infections among staff and residents of the McCreary/Alonsa Personal Care Home.

Pam Little's partner is recovering after testing positive. He's among 30 of the 32 residents who contracted the virus.

As of Sunday, eight residents have died after contracting the illness, according to provincial data.

"He was scared, and he thought he was going to die," Little said.

"It's a disaster here."

The latest data from the province shows 18 staff members are also sick. That lines up with what Little experienced Wednesday when she went to visit her husband after he came out of isolation.

"I only recognized one person when I was there for four hours and he was being checked on every 20 minutes," she said.

That's because sick time is being covered by health-care workers from out of town.

"These are people working extra shifts, or on their days off ... They deserve extra thanks for doing that."

Meanwhile, Pine Creek First Nation, which is also in the Prairie Mountain health region, is reporting two COVID-19 cases as of Sunday. Pine Creek set up a lockdown and security checkpoints going in and out of the community on Friday to contain the spread.

Karen Baston, the chief of the First Nation, which is 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg along the western shore of Lake Winnipegosis, says leadership will reassess the lockdown on Monday.

"Now more than ever people need to stay home and not put themselves or others at risk," she said in a community bulletin on Friday.

Elsewhere, an outbreak has been declared over at the Union Gospel Mission in Winnipeg. The site has been removed from the province's colour-coded pandemic response system.

The province's news release says 1,956 tests were completed on Saturday, bringing the total number of lab tests done since early February 2020 to 465,040.

The northern region, including the town of Churchill, was excluded from an easing of some of the province's strict pandemic restrictions, which came into effect for the rest of Manitoba Saturday, following recent drops in case numbers.

Two designated visitors are now allowed for each household, and group of up to five can gather outdoors on private property.

Retailers are allowed to sell non-essential items in-store again, and barbers and hair stylists are able to go back to work.