WINNIPEG Manitoba may have announced potential changes to Code Red restrictions, but that doesn’t mean it’s in the clear, as 23 of Winnipeg’s long-term care facilities are still experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks. According to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), which oversees the operations of the city’s 39 long-term care facilities, there are 42 residents at Winnipeg’s personal care homes with COVID-19, as well as 37 staff members. A facility declares an outbreak after at least one resident, staff member, or external service provider tests positive for COVID-19. The WRHA notes that as of 9 a.m. on Jan. 19, there aren’t any COVID-19 cases among the residents at 14 of the facilities with current outbreaks.
Cockroaches can be seen scurrying up a cupboard, inside a sink and across a desk in video obtained by CBC News showing an ongoing infestation at Parkview Place Long Term Care Home, despite a December deadline to fix the problem.
The news came on a day when the Northern Health Region (NHR) led the province in new cases once again, reporting 84 of Manitoba s 191 new COVID-19 cases reported Jan. 15. Provincial five-day test positivity rates are hovering around 10 per cent, but are decidedly lower in Winnipeg, where 7.2 per cent of tests in the last five days have come up positive. A person has died in the NHR from COVID-19, listed by the provincial government as a man in his 70s from the Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake district. The region with the most new cases reported Friday was the Island Lake district, where community spread has pushed the remote district to 391 active cases - an increase of 37 cases, with only one new recovery. Eleven new cases were reported in Thompson/Mystery Lake, but a boost in recoveries offset the new cases, sending the region s active case load down from 79 Thursday to 77 Friday.
The fastest growth in overall cases has been found in the Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake district, where a whopping 57 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in provincial data Jan. 14, bringing the region up to 144 active cases. Help may soon be on the way for the remote community, about 240 kilometres almost due north of Flin Flon. The Town of Lynn Lake announced Jan. 13 that members of Manitoba Task Force Four, a provincial emergency response team from the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, would be arriving in town later this week. The crew will be tasked with providing support to local and regional health workers, providing emergency medical care if neede and to help with planning and logistics.