New, slightly revised health orders were announced on what has - so far - been the deadliest day of Manitoba's third wave.
Eight more deaths from COVID-19, ranging from a woman in her 30s from Prairie Mountain Health to a man in his 80s from Southern Health-Sante Sud, were reported, including five deaths directly from variants of concern. No new deaths were reported in the Northern Health Region (NHR).
Another 295 new cases of COVID-19 were found across the province, including 25 new cases in the NHR and two new cases of COVID-19 in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district. The district now has 31 reported COVID-19 cases according to the provincial dashboard.
No new outbreaks or public exposures were announced for the NHR May 27.
Under the new health orders, most of the same restrictions that apply under previous provincial restrictions will stay exactly the same. Changes include restricting all outdoor gatherings, including those on public property, to household members only and requiring employers to have their employees work from home when possible.
Also included in the new restrictions are new rules for shopping malls, which will - according to the provincial announcement made May 27 - have "increased requirements for malls to manage capacity and access to ensure compliance." School divisions that went into remote learning before this past week will need to keep students at home for at least another two weeks.
All other health restrictions - including those that were brought into place over May long weekend and extended to later this week - will remain in place.
In a press conference announcing the new changes, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the changes would be in place for two weeks, going into effect at 12:01 May 29.
"We're implementing new and strengthened public health orders for the next two weeks. This is because our health care system is under great strain. Our ICU numbers, our hospitalization numbers are extremely high and are still expected to climb," said Roussin.
"The public health orders outline what we need to do to bring down these numbers. We need to stay home, work remotely whenever possible, go out only for essential items and only when absolutely necessary, do not gather with anybody outside of your household. We recognize that these next two weeks, much like the last 15 months, will be difficult. Manitobans are tired, but our health care system is depending on us to keep these numbers down."
"These new and strengthed orders specifically target gatherings, workplaces and retail establishments," said Pallister.
"Manitobans must stay home as much as possible over the next two weeks so that our hospitals and our medical teams have the capacity to care for Manitobans if they need that help - not just COVID-19 patients, but others as well, many of whom have been waiting for medical treatments."
There are now 73 Manitobans in intensive care in Manitoba, plus another 25 Manitobans in ICUs in Ontario. The province began flying patients in need of intensive care out of province last week, sending patients to northern Ontario. More patients are likely to be transported to Saskatchewan ICUs in the coming days.
For full district-by-district COVID-19 case data for the NHR, see below:
Cases by northern district (Manitoba) | active cases | recoveries | deaths | total cases |
Bay Line | 0 | 61 | 0 | 61 |
Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake | 22 | 463 | 6 | 491 |
Churchill (covered by Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cross Lake/Pimicikamak | 26 | 701 | 7 | 734 |
Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon | 31 | 175 | 2 | 208 |
Gillam/Fox Lake | 0 | 87 | 0 | 87 |
Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Moose Lake/Mosakahiken/Easterville/Chemawawin | 40 | 600 | 7 | 647 |
Island Lake | 63 | 1658 | 8 | 1729 |
Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake | 4 | 339 | 3 | 346 |
Nelson House/Nisichawayasihk | 6 | 44 | 0 | 50 |
Norway House | 3 | 53 | 0 | 56 |
Pukatawagan/Mathias Colomb | 14 | 428 | 2 | 444 |
Sayisi Dene/Tadoule/Barren Lands/Brochet/Northlands/Lac Brochet | 1 | 27 | 1 | 29 |
Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake | 5 | 494 | 2 | 501 |
The Pas/Opaskwayak/Kelsey | 34 | 542 | 10 | 586 |
Thompson/Mystery Lake | 0 | 975 | 3 | 978 |
Unknown district | 14 | 290 | 0 | 304 |
Case totals as of May 27 | 263 | 6937 | 51 | 7251 |