Northern Manitoba breaks 1,500 active case mark, two new recoveries found in Flin Flon

Seventy new COVID-19 cases in northern Manitoba were announced by the province Jan. 20, bringing the region past 1,500 active cases.

Throughout northern Manitoba, active cases of COVID-19 broke the 1,500 mark, thanks in large part to outbreaks in communities including Garden Hill, Red Sucker Lake and Lynn Lake. The Island Lake and Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake health districts reported 10 and 32 new cases Wednesday.

The Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district got a dose of luck Wednesday, reporting no additional cases and reporting two recoveries. That pushes the number of active cases in the community down to 18, with the number of total cases in the district since the pandemic started standing pat at 57.

Other major centres of the region, including The Pas/OCN/Kelsey, Thompson/Mystery Lake and Cross Lake/Pimicikamak also saw new cases - two in The Pas district, five in the Thompson district and four in the Cross Lake district.

Of the remaining active COVID-19 cases in northern Manitoba, over half are in the Island Lake and Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake districts alone, but COVID-19 cases are not negligible in other communities. Out of roughly 7,000 residents in the Flin Flon health district, there are 18 active cases, almost twice as many cases per capita as Winnipeg, which currently has 906 active cases in a city of around 750,000 people. The per capita case rate in The Pas is between five and six times higher than the rate in Winnipeg, while Thompson's per capita rate is almost five times higher than Winnipeg. 

Manitoba in total reported six further deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the provincial total up to 788 - one previously announced death, announced The Pas district, was removed from the province's totals after a data entry error - and reported 153 new net cases. A total of 273 Manitobans are in hospital due to COVID-19, with 36 of those people in intensive care. No new outbreaks or possible public exposures in the north were announced Jan. 20.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan reported another 234 active cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including 18 new cases in the far north east health zone. Two of the new cases were reported in people who live in far north east zone communities, but who tested positive outside Saskatchewan. There are now 318 active cases in the far north east zone, including 75 cases in the far north east 2 zone which includes Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and other communities near Flin Flon.