Net cases in Flin Flon stay same, recoveries from COVID-19 up across north

Northern Manitoba's COVID-19 situation improved Wednesday, with the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage district showing 11 active cases for the second straight day and recovery rates climbing.

The district reported one new case of the disease Wednesday, bringing the district's count of cases up to 29 in all, but one person who had tested positive for COVID-19 previously has now recovered, keeping the number of active cases the same.

Data for the region released Dec. 2 has shown while cases remain constant in the Flin Flon district, the number of actively ill northern Manitoba residents is dropping. The region is now at 436 active cases plus one case in Churchill which is covered by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, not the Northern Health Region. The 437 total cases north of the 53rd parallel are a noticeable drop from Tuesday, where 466 active cases were reported.

Twenty-eight new cases were reported in the north, but a soaring recovery rate knocked the active case load down. Some districts saw more than 10 reported recoveries overnight - the Island Lake district, despite reporting 13 new cases, reported 15 recoveries. The Pas/OCN/Kelsey reported 23 recoveries, dropping its active case numbers from 167 to 144 overnight. Thompson/Mystery Lake also saw two new cases and nine new recoveries.

Only a small number of northern districts saw a net gain in active cases. The largest increase was in the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district, where four new active cases were reported, followed by two more net active cases in Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Moose Lake/Mosakahiken/Easterville/Chemawawin and one new net active case in Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake.

No new outbreaks or possible public exposures were reported in northern Manitoba Wednesday. Six outbreak sites remain active in the north - The Rod McGillivary Care Home in OCN, the St. Paul's Residence care home in The Pas, the Acute Care Inpatient Unit at St. Anthony's General Hospital in The Pas, the Oscar's Place homeless shelter in The Pas, the Flin Flon Personal Care Home and the Northern Lights Manor in Flin Flon.

Province-wide, new case numbers are slowly falling, but death rates remain high. Fourteen more Manitobans have died from COVID-19, all in Winnipeg or southern Manitoba communities. The deaths range from a woman in her 40s in Winnipeg to three women in their 90s, all of whom were connected to existing outbreaks at seniors' facilities. Of the 14 deaths, seven were connected to existing outbreaks at health facilities or seniors' homes.

In the past five days, 13.2 per cent of Manitobans who have been tested for COVID-19 have tested positive. Active cases have just dipped down under 9,000, sitting at 8,970 people currently ill with COVID-19 throughout Manitoba. Of the 8,970 people, 351 are in hospital with COVID-19 and 51 of those people are in intensive care. In the north, 20 people with COVID-19 are in hospital, with four in intensive care. Some patients from northern Manitoba have been moved to facilities in Winnipeg.

Since the pandemic began, 342 people in Manitoba with COVID-19 have died.