18 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Manitoba with more hospitalizations than ever

There are 18 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba on Tuesday, a provincial news release says.

Fourteen people are in hospital, provincial data shows, up from 11 on Monday. One person is in intensive care.

That's the highest daily number of hospitalizationsthe province has seen to date. The previous high was 12 hospitalizations in April.

There are nine new cases in Winnipeg, seven in the Prairie Mountain Health region andtwo in the Southern Health region.

The cases from Prairie Mountain Health include two residents at the Assiniboine Centre at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, where an outbreak was declaredthisweekend, the news release says.

That brings the total number of cases associated with the health centre to three patients and two health-care workers.

There are 459active cases in Manitoba, while759 people have recovered.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 2.2 per cent. An additional 569 tests were completed on Monday.

The province says that's becausefewer specimens are collected on weekends, so Monday's testing numbers are usually lower.

A Winnipeg personal care home announced a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 in a letter to the families of residents on Tuesday.

Management of theFred Douglas Lodge became aware of the case on Monday and sent a letter to families the same day, said Roslyn Garofalo, CEO of the Fred Douglas Society.

The letter, signed by Garofalo,says no other staff or residents are presenting symptoms at this time,and they're working to control the spread.

"We appreciate this is incredibly unsettling news for our residents and their loved ones. Please be assured that we have moved quickly to enact precautions that will prevent any further spread of illness," the letter said.

The City of Brandon also announced two new positive cases within its ranks on Tuesday, aBrandon Fire and Emergency Services employee and a transit worker.

The city said in a news release the employees last worked on Aug. 19 and Aug. 6, respectively, and both are self-isolating.

These are the second and third positive cases within the municipality's workforce.

The province also announced everyone on school buses will have to wear a non-medical mask becausepassengers may be in close proximity for extended periods of time with no ability to physically distance from each other.

Previously this rule only applied to Grade4 and older. It now includes all students, driversand any other passengers on board.

All visitors to health-care facilities now must wearnon-medical masks, including outpatients attending appointments at clinics within hospitals and health centres across the province.

The province also strongly encourages anyone visiting a primary health clinic and other locations providing health services to wear a non-medical mask, although they aren't required to.

On Monday, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, announced the province is reintroducing travel restrictions north of the 53rd parallel in light of the growing number of active cases in southern regions.

He also announceda new outbreak at the Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon after a health-care worker tested positive for COVID-19.

The province says Roussin will provide updated case tallies for the five outbreaks in the Prairie Mountain Health region on Thursday.

There are two places in Brandon where the public could have been exposed to the virus, public health officials say.

The first is Warlock Tattoo, at 2324 Park Ave.in Brandon, Aug. 18from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Aug. 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Aug. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Aug. 27 from noon to 5 p.m. and Aug. 28 from 10:45 to 4 p.m.

The second is at East Side Mario's at 1570 18th St.in Brandon on Aug. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m