Manitoba’s top doctor and nurse will give a live update on the province’s ongoing efforts against COVID-19 Wednesday.
Chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, and Lanette Siragusa, the province’s chief nursing officer, have scheduled a media briefing for 12:30 p.m.
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Global News will stream the press conference live in this story.
Health officials announced 283 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and said a record-setting 16 more Manitobans with the virus had died.
Tuesday’s new cases bring Manitoba’s total COVID-19 cases reported since March to 17,107. The province’s death toll now sits at 328.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister warned Tuesday that Manitobans will likely have to deal with strict COVID-19 measures into the winter.
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Pallister said some restrictions on public gatherings and business openings will likely have to continue beyond Friday of next week — when they’re set to expire — because daily case counts remain too high and intensive care capacity is close to the limit.
Roussin said the government is already working on what restrictions might continue beyond next week, but did not divulge details.
Manitoba has been reporting hundreds of new cases and multiple deaths from COVID-19 in daily updates for weeks.
As of Tuesday, there were 338 people in hospital with 48 people in intensive care due to COVID-19.
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The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate was 13.1 per cent provincially and 13.8 per cent in Winnipeg as of Tuesday morning.
There were 9,066 active cases of COVID-19 across Manitoba Tuesday, according to provincial data, but Roussin has said the number is likely inflated due to a backlog in case monitoring.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
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