While northern numbers have dropped, another 75 cases were reported throughout the north, mostly confined to three districts. Of the 75 cases announced in northern Manitoba, 52 were announced in the Cross Lake/Pimicikamak district, which due to data corrections elsewhere, is now the region s largest COVID-19 hotspot. The district now has 167 active cases of COVID-19 as of Feb. 18 - almost a full third of the north s remaining active cases. New cases were also reported in Thompson - nine new cases were reported in the Thompson/Mystery Lake district, although active cases showed a slight decrease because of 11 reported recoveries - and in Island Lake, where eight new cases were found.
The district that saw the most new cases was the Thompson/Mystery Lake district, where 35 new cases were reported overnight. Accounting for recoveries, the district has jumped from 89 active cases Tuesday to 106 active cases Wednesday. Since the pandemic began, 594 people in the Thompson district have tested positive. The north remains Manitoba s COVID-19 hotspot, due in large part to persisting outbreaks in the Island Lake and Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district. The Island Lake district now has 803 cases of COVID-19 according to provincial data, while the Shamattawa district is sitting at 367 active cases once again. Cases are not confined to the northeast portion of the region, however. Provincial numbers show 71 cases remain active in The Pas/OCN/Kelsey district. A full list of the most recent provincial COVID-19 data for the north can be found below.
Throughout the north, cases continued to grow, with the highest number of new cases reported in the Thompson/Mystery Lake and Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake districts. Seventeen new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Thompson district, pushing active cases in the region up to 85, while 14 new cases in the Lynn Lake region pushed the region s active cases to 98, despite a big jump in the number of people recovering in the district. The majority of cases in northern Manitoba are still tied to outbreaks in remote Indigenous communities, but larger centres, including The Pas/OCN, Cross Lake, Thompson, Flin Flon and Norway House still have per-capita case loads well over the provincial average. Manitoba has a provincial average of 83 active cases per 100,000 people, but all five of those northern communities are at least three times higher than that mark. Four of them - Flin Flon being the sole exception - are more than four times higher than
One new death, an increase in cases on both sides of the border and vaccines trickling their way into the north - there s a lot of new information on the COVID-19 front. Another person in northern Manitoba has died from COVID-19, reported by the province as a man in his 70s in the Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Moose Lake/Mosakahiken/Easterville/Chemawawin district. article continues below
Trending Stories The district was one of the region s hotspots for COVID-19 late last year, but cases and restrictions imposed by the band appear to have stopped a full-blown outbreak at Mosakahiken Cree Nation. The district is now down to having one active case of the disease after reporting a total of 192 cases - four people in the district have died from COVID-19 and 187 people have recovered.
Out of the new cases reported, the most cases in one district were found in the Cross Lake/Pimickamak district, where 22 new cases were reported Thursday. Another nine cases were found in the Island Lake district - likely tied to the ongoing community spread in Red Sucker Lake. Four new cases were found in the Thompson/Mystery Lake district. Not all the news on new cases is bad. Five northern districts, including the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district, saw their active cases numbers drop. The Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake district saw the biggest drop, going to 171 active cases from 176 Wednesday. The Pas/OCN/Kelsey also saw a modest decline, with three more previously active cases now reported as recovered. Three other districts saw cases decline by one case each.