On the day Canada’s total COVID-19 cases topped 100,000, Manitoba and Saskatchewan officials announced new cases in their regions.
Four new cases have been announced in Manitoba since the last testing update, all in Winnipeg.
In Saskatchewan, 15 new cases were announced by public health officials on June 18. All but one are in the southern region, related to an outbreak at a Hutterite colony. The remaining case is in the far north region.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief health officer, said he is considering one those cases community-based transmission.
Roussin added low case numbers won’t knock the province off its recovery path.
“This virus isn't going away anytime soon,” he said.
“It's not like if we just hold on for another month, then we'll be all good. We need to deal with this virus for the foreseeable future, so we need to find ways to live with the virus. We can’t live in a lockdown forever.”
Manitoba is tracking eight active cases of COVID-19, and has tested more than 55,000 people.
Saskatchewan officials are tracking 59 active cases of the virus and have tested more than 57,000.
The June 18 conference was the last update before Manitoba moves into the third phase of its reopening plan June 21.
Most businesses will no longer be required to operate at a reduced capacity, although they still need to ensure physical distancing inside. Roussin said it was especially important for restaurants to follow those rules.
“We've unfortunately seen super-spreader events in restaurants,” he said.
“We know that close, prolonged, enclosed contract is what is high risk for transmission of this virus.”
One of the announced cases in Manitoba involved an international traveller who was self-isolating, but infected a housemate who went out in Winnipeg.
Roussin announced the stores the person shopped at, and reminded people to be careful when self-isolating.
“If [you] self isolate at home, you shouldn't really have close contact with those at the home,” he said.
“If you do, then those people should essentially be isolating. So it's not the ideal situation.”
Roussin added the person who left the house didn’t have any symptoms, so the risk of transmission was still low.
Premier Brian Pallister announced Manitoba is expanding its summer jobs program earlier in the day. The province is eliminating the age requirement and providing support for small businesses to begin rehiring.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced Canada would be launching a contact tracing app to better track COVID-19’s spread.
