Manitoba’s health minister will join health officials for an update on the province’s COVID-19 fight Monday.
Cameron Friesen will be at a 12:30 p.m. media briefing along with Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s acting deputing chief public health officer and chief nursing officer, Lanette Siragusa. Global News will stream the event live here.
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Friesen has been absent from press conferences for weeks after coming under heavy criticism during the pandemic’s second wave that started in late summer.
In November, while Manitoba led all other provinces in new infections per capita, Friesen accused doctors of causing chaos after 200 physicians and other scientists wrote a letter to the premier that said the health-care system was being overwhelmed.
In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press published last week, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he is thinking about appointing a second health minister to help the province fight its high COVID-19 case numbers.
Pallister said the move would not be a criticism of Friesen, but would help ease workload in the health department that. The premier hinted the move might be temporary until the pandemic is over.
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Friesen welcomed the idea and said it came from him.
“I am pleased to learn that the premier is giving serious consideration to advice I gave him a year ago — following the lead of other provinces that have moved to increase the focus on priority areas by naming additional ministers within the health portfolio,” Friesen said in a message.
Manitoba’s daily number of new COVID-19 cases has started to trend downward following broad restrictions brought in last month on public gatherings and businesses.
Still, health officials have said intensive care units remain strained.
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On Sunday health officials announced 13 additional deaths and 229 new cases of the virus.
Since March Manitoba has reported 22,859 cases of COVID-19 and 569 Manitobans have died.
–With files from the Canadian Press