A new case of COVID-19 was reported in the Northern Health Region (NHR) Wednesday. but once again, health officials say t's not actually in the north. The case was found in someone who used to live in the north and moved away, but whose health information had not been updated.
The case was reported as in an "unknown district" within the NHR Sept. 23, similar to a previous case found in the region that was later changed. The NHR has confirmed to The Reminder that the case is in a person living in Winnipeg with an outdated northern address - the third such case to be reported in the past two weeks.
"The unknown category is used when the identifying information does not allow the individual to be assigned to a district geography," said a statement from a provincial spokesperson about the "unknown district" designation and how it is used.
"The regional health authority is still recorded but the case is assigned to the unknown district while investigation works to resolve the location and assign it correctly."
The case announced Sept. 23 will be relocated to Winnipeg in provincial statistics.
There have been four new cases of COVID-19 reported in the NHR in the past three weeks, but each of those four cases eventually was moved from the region when it was revealed the person was not currently a resident of northern Manitoba. One case was moved from Manitoba to Saskatchewan when investigators discovered the person resided in a Saskatchewan community near Flin Flon, while two cases previously listed in the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district were later moved to Winnipeg.
In the latter two cases, the province said the cases were found in people who had previously lived in the northern district but had moved to Winnipeg and did not have their new addresses registered with Manitoba health.
42 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Manitoba Wednesday, with at least one new case found in all five Manitoba health regions. Winnipeg led the way with 30 cases.
The province has 418 active cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 23, with 11 people in hospital and five in intensive care. Out of those 418 cases, 338 of them are in Winnipeg.
Three more schools have reported possible exposures to COVID-19, including two in rural regions. Gladstone Elementary School, Emerson School and St. Maurice School in Winnipeg each reported confirmed cases within the schools, with the person who tested positive present there for at least two days before testing positive.
Saskatchewan reported six new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, with three in Regina, two in Saskatoon and one case in the central west region. Two cases remain active in the far north region - one in the far north west and one in the far north east. The far north east case is in the Far North East 1 zone, which contains La Ronge, Pinehouse and nearby communities and does not include Flin Flon, Sask., Creighton, Denare Beach or communities in Saskatchewan near Flin Flon.
