23 of 29 new COVID-19 cases announced in Manitoba on Sunday are in Winnipeg

Health officials are again calling on people in Winnipeg to follow public health directions, as 23 of Manitoba's 29 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday are people in the capital city.

Many of the cases of the illness among a worrisome recent increase in Winnipeg have large numbers of close contacts, the province says in a news release.

Of Manitoba's 354 active COVID-19 cases, 275 — more than three-quarters — are now in Winnipeg, according to provincial data.

Another three of Sunday's new cases are in the Prairie Mountain Health region, while two are in the Interlake-Eastern health region and one is in the Southern health region, the release says.

One case of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus previously reported on Sept. 19 has been removed from the totals, the release says, though it does not specify why.

Twenty of Sunday's new cases are people under age 30, provincial data shows.

Half of those are people in their 20s, while the other half are people younger than 20.

There have now been 1,586 cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba.

There are now 11 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Manitoba, including three in intensive care.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate, a rolling average of the COVID-19 tests that come back positive, is up slightly to 1.9 per cent, the release says.

To date, 1,216 people in Manitoba have recovered from COVID-19 and 16 have died.

Possible exposures

People who were on the bus to John Pritchard School on Sept. 14 and 15 may have been exposed to the illness, the release says. The exposures happened on Winnipeg Transit school route S412 from around 8:15 a.m. at the Headmaster/Mildred stop to 8:40 a.m. at the school, and from 3 p.m. at the school to 3:25 p.m. back at the Headmaster/Mildred stop, the release says

Another possible exposure happened at the Planet Fitness location on Leila Avenue on Sept. 15 between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Café La Scala on Corydon Avenue is temporarily closed, the release says, as public health officials investigate COVID-19 exposures that happened there on Sept. 11 from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and Sept. 12 from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

XXI Lounge on Pembina Highway was also closed temporarily for investigations into exposures to the illness, though it has since reopened. Those exposures happened on Sept. 11, 12 and 13 from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., the release says.

On Saturday, officials warned of possible exposures to the illness at a Winnipeg daycare, high school and restaurant.

A person with COVID-19 was at the Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre in Elmwood on Monday morning and afternoon, the province said. Seven staff and 21 kids are in isolation after being named as close contacts.

The centre has closed off areas used by the sick person and will not use them again until they're disinfected, Sunday's news release says. The rest of the building is still open for unaffected kids and staff.

Another person with the illness was at Gordon Bell High School in central Winnipeg on Thursday morning and afternoon, the province said, though no close contacts were named in that investigation and the risk of further transmission is deemed low.

Meanwhile, Local Public Eatery downtown was closed on Saturday, pending the results of investigations into COVID-19 exposures that happened there on Sept. 11 and 12, the release says, though the restaurant has since reopened.

Three new cases of the illness were announced on Fisher River Cree Nation this weekend, in addition to the first case in the Interlake community announced last week.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is watching for COVID-19 symptoms after meeting earlier this week with Quebec Premier François Legault, who is self-isolating after coming into contact with a confirmed case of the illness, a spokesperson for Pallister said on Saturday. 

Legault tested negative on Saturday evening but is still self-isolating in accordance with public health guidelines.

On Saturday, 1,216 more COVID-19 tests were done in Manitoba, bringing the total number of tests completed in the province to 164,177.