Manitoba’s top doctor and chief nursing officer will give a live update on the province’s COVID-19, hours before strict province-wide public health orders are set to expire.
Dr. Brent Roussin and Lanette Siragusa have scheduled a press conference for 12:30 p.m. Global News will stream the event live in this story.
Manitoba has been under strict public health orders since mid-November that have forced non-essential businesses to close, barred public gatherings of more than five people, and forbidden most social visits in private homes.
Read more:
Manitoba records 12 deaths, 208 new cases of COVID-19
A public health order that contains the restrictions is set to expire at midnight Friday.
While the province has yet to say whether or not the restrictions will change, Premier Brian Pallister said earlier this week most, if not all, of the rules will be extended.
The measures have paid off with lower daily case numbers in recent weeks, but health officials have said hospitalization rates and the number of COVID-19 patients filling ICU beds remain too high.
They’ve also been worried the province may see a spike of cases after the holidays, and on Wednesday Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s acting deputy chief public health officer, said nearly 60 infections and more than 400 contacts had been linked to holiday gatherings in recent days.
Read more:
70 per cent of Manitobans expected to be vaccinated for COVID-19 this year: projection
On Thursday provincial health officials announced another 12 COVID-19-related deaths and said another 208 Manitobans have been infected with the virus.
The province’s five-day test positivity rate fell to 9.9 per cent Thursday — the first time it’s been below 10 since Nov. 9.
Since March Manitoba has recorded 25,742 lab-confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and 717 Manitobans with COVID-19 have died.
–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.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.