First COVID-19 death reported in Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon health district

According to provincial health data, a person in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon health district has died with COVID-19.

The provincial government released data Dec. 7 showing 12 more deaths province-wide, bringing the total of Manitobans who have died after testing positive for COVID-19 up to 407. Two of the 12 deaths reported Dec. 7 were found in the Northern Health Region (NHR), including a resident of the Flin Flon district - a man in his 90s.  The death is the first COVID-19-related death to have been reported in the area since the pandemic began.

According to the province, the death is not tied to either one of two active outbreaks in Flin Flon, located at the Northern Lights Manor and at the Flin Flon Personal Care Home. Two residents and a staff member have tested positive at the manor, while one staff member at PCH has tested positive according to the NHR.

The other new northern death was reported in a woman in her 80s whose case was tied to an outbreak in the acute care inpatient unit of The Pas' St. Anthony's General Hospital. Since the pandemic began, 11 people in northern Manitoba have died from COVID-19.

The news of the district's first death offset a rise in recoveries and a decline in active cases in the Flin Flon district. Four people remain positive with COVID-19 in the district, down from double digits last week. Three more people have recovered from COVID-19 in the district. One new case was reported in the district, which has now seen 33 people test positive since the pandemic began as of Monday.

Throughout northern Manitoba, active case loads went down from 469 active cases Dec. 7 to 443 Monday, with The Pas/OCN/Kelsey going from 132 active cases to 107 overnight and Cross Lake/Pimicikamak dropping down to 16 overall active cases. Thompson/Mystery Lake went down from 31 to 20 active cases Monday.

While some northern districts saw active cases drop, others saw sharp climbs in cases. The biggest jump from Sunday to Monday in active cases was in the remote Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake district, where cases increased from 12 active Sunday to 27 active Monday. Island Lake is up to 116 cases - an increase of eight from Sunday - while the province recorded 91 active cases in the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake as of Monday.

Province-wide, Manitoba saw a dramatic reduction in active cases of COVID-19 Monday. The province reported 5,462 total active cases across Manitoba Monday, down from 9,216 active cases just a day before. Total recoveries increased by more than 4,000 overnight. Provincial health officials said the increase in recoveries and decrease in active cases came from removing a backlog in provincial data entry.

Saskatchewan

While COVID-19 news in Manitoba was a mixed bag early this week, Saskatchewan just saw more bad news.

The province cleared the 10,000 total case barrier over the weekend, with another 274 new cases found Dec. 7. The province is now up to 60 deaths from COVID-19 - 13 people have died from COVID-19 in Saskatchewan in the past week alone.

Cases in the far north east 2 health zone - which covers Flin Flon, Sask., Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and other nearby communities - have increased in recent weeks. As of Monday, 123 people in the district have tested positive for COVID-19, including two new cases added Monday. Most of the cases have been tied to an active outbreak in Pelican Narrows, which the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) proclaimed in late November. The community’s health centre has reported well over 100 total COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began.