2 more deaths in Manitoba from COVID-19

Two more people have died from COVID-19 in Manitoba, including one case linked to a cluster at aBrandon health-care facilitythat was declared an outbreak last month,provincial health officials announced Monday.

The two people who died are a man from the Southern Health region and a woman from the Prairie Mountain Health region, both in their 80s.

The woman in the Prairie Mountain Health region is connected to theBrandon Regional Health Centre's Assiniboine Centre,Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussinsaid at a news conference Monday. The man in the Southern Health region is connected to a communal living environment.

A total of 18 people have now died from the new coronavirus in Manitoba since the start of the pandemic.

Roussinalso announced 22 more cases in the province, including 16 in Winnipeg, continuing a trend that has seen the city leadthe province in new confirmed casesannounced daily.

"There has been a concerning increase in the number of cases in Winnipeg, with many cases having large numbers of close contacts," health officials said in a news release.

Roussin said the rate of community transmission in Winnipeg is currently between 20 and 25 per cent.

"Certainly the trend is in the wrong direction for us right now," he said.

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Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said Monday that a series of new cases had high lists of close contacts, and some people had been going out while symptomatic for days before getting a test.

Roussin would not commit to introducing stricter public health measures in Winnipeg, like what health officials did in the Prairie Mountain Health region in August.

Although thetotal number of active cases in Winnipeg (284)is similar to what they were in the southwestern Manitoba region at the time those measures were introduced, Roussinpointed outthe population in Winnipeg is much larger.

"We don't want to see the numbers continue to trend up that way," he said. "We have to adhere to those fundamentals, as we've donebefore in the first wave, as we've done that in Prairie Mountain Health, we can see that those measures are effective."

There were threenew cases inthe Southern Health region,two in the Prairie Mountain Health region and one inthe Interlake-Eastern health region.

Possible exposures in Winnipeg

Roussinsaid there are three more locations in Winnipeg where people may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

The first possible exposure was on a Winnipeg Transit bus, route 14, from Ellice Avenue and Spence Street to St. Mary Avenue, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, between 11:10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

The same day, there was a possible exposure at Planet Fitness, 783 Leila Ave.,from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Someone who tested positive for COVID-19 visited 7 Arabian Dreams at 775 Corydon Ave. on Friday between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., and on Sunday from 12:45 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Earls restaurant also confirmed Monday afternoon that an employee at its Polo Park location has tested positive for COVID-19. A spokesperson said the restaurant has been working closely with health officials and the risk to the public is deemed to be low. The restaurant is remaining open at this time.

In addition, public health officials say The Keg Steakhouse and Bar reported a possible exposure at its Garry Street location on Sept. 15, between 6 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., and Sept. 16, from 3:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

On the weekend, the province warned of potential exposures at three Manitoba schools Garden City Collegiate and Gordon Bell High Schoolin Winnipeg and Meadows School in Brandon.

More cases were identified over the weekend linked to an outbreak at John Pritchard School, wherestudents ingrades 6, 7 and 8, as well as those in a split grade 4/5 class and the Henderson Early Learning Centre were sent home after a number of people tested positive.

Roussin said health officials are still compiling the total number of people infected, but he said the new cases are connected to the same cohort that was initially sent home, so no additional cohorts are affected.

There have now been 1,608 cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, with eightpeople currently hospitalized, including two in intensive care, and 18 deaths.

On Sunday, Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate, a rolling average of the COVID-19 tests that come back positive, was at 1.8per cent, down from 1.9 per cent on Sunday.

There are now 363 active cases in Manitobaand1,227 people have recovered.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | Sept. 21, 2020:

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Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Monday, September 21, 2020.