Northern cases up as Manitoba’s third wave grows, six new cases in Flin Flon district since Sunday

Manitoba now has the highest per-capita rates of COVID-19 of any Canadian province once again - and the north is beginning to catch up.

The province reported 334 net new COVID-19 cases May 18, with 25 of those in the Northern Health Region (NHR). While case counts have spiraled in southern communities and in Winnipeg, northern case counts had stayed relatively low until May 16, when 39 new cases were announced. Another 37 new cases were announced May 17 - higher than the 10s or low teens seen lately.

The district that covers Flin Flon was also hit by a rash of new cases May 17 - five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district, with another new case of COVID-19 found Tuesday. The district now sits at 13 active cases.

Throughout the north, the NHR now sits at 272 active cases - down from 279 at the same time a week ago. The reduction was due mostly to a correction in outdated cases being moved from “active” to “recovered”.

The area with the biggest one week jump is the Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Moose Lake/Mosakahiken/Easterville/Chemawawin district, which has seen an uptick in cases from Easterville/Chemawawin Cree Nation. A total of 52 new cases have been reported in this district in the last week alone.

Province-wide, in the five days leading up to May 18, 13 per cent of all COVID-19 tests across the province - including 14.4 of the tests done in Winnipeg - ended up positive. That rate is near where Manitoba peaked at the worst stages of the province’s second wave.

Manitoba is now up to 4,543 active COVID-19 cases, among the most in the province since last December. Stricter health orders and restrictions were put in place earlier this month. Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said in his May 17 media briefing that while the restrictions were unpopular with the public, he believes they are the best way to limit possible COVID-19 spread.

“We know Manitobans are all tired of public health orders and restrictions, tired of hearing about fundamentals, but we need to ensure we’re all still familiar with how severe COVID-19 is. Last week, Manitoba hit the grim milestone of 1,000 deaths and today, we’re up to 1,011. Many Manitobans have recovered from COVID-19, but many have had severe outcomes, whether that be getting admitted to hospital, to ICU and unfortunately, death,” Roussin said.

“We know that those in older age groups and with underlying health conditions were more at risk. These variants of concern have shaken that to some degree - we’re seeing younger and younger people admitted to hospital and admitted to ICU. It’s a reminder of how severe COVID-19 is and how much it is affecting the health of Manitobans directly and indirectly, by putting strain on our health care system.”

The situation is likely going to get worse before it gets better. According to provincial modelling data released May 14, all key metrics for showing the spread of COVID-19 - test positivity rates, transmission and contact tracing and higher percentages of variants of concern - are expected to jump past Manitoba’s second wave by the end of the month. Intensive care unit admissions are likely to jump past previous highs by May long weekend and possibly, in the worst case scenario, double into the summer.

"We have people [diagnosed with COVID-19] who are being honest, who are saying, 'Yes, I went to a bonfire. Yes, I had a sleepover. Yes, six of us got together at someone's house and played video games. Yes, we had a big barbecue,’" said Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s deputy chief public health officer, when the modelling was released.

“We really need to limit our contacts outside of our households. It’s the best way to stop the transmission chains that we’re seeing.”

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan’s third wave appears to have started to crest. The province is reporting fewer cases of COVID-19 than it did when variants of concern cases were first found in the province, with cases centring around Regina, Saskatoon and a handful of southern Saskatchewan areas. The province lifted specific restrictions for the Regina area, allowing restaurants to reopen for in-person dining and lifting travel restrictions for people leaving or entering the city.

Case numbers in the far north east health zones are slowly increasing once again, despite cases in several hotspots throughout the region dropping. Twenty cases are now active, as of May 17, in the far north east health zones, including seven in the far north east 2 health zone that includes Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay. From May 5-12, the Creighton/Denare Beach/Flin Flon, Sask. area reported one confirmed case of COVID-19.