Health officials in Manitoba will give an update on the province’s ongoing efforts against COVID-19 Thursday.
Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, and health minister Cameron Friesen have scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m.
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Coronavirus: Manitoba reports 23 new cases Wednesday, majority in Winnipeg
Global News will stream the event live in this story.
The province reported 23 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — including 20 in Winnipeg.
The latest cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases identified in Manitoba since March to 1,489.
At a press conference Tuesday Roussin said the province has moved John Pritchard School in Winnipeg into the orange, or restricted level, of the province’s pandemic response system after seven cases of the virus have been linked to the school.
He said the cases are the first to be transmitted within a school in the province since classes resumed last week.
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7 test positive for COVID-19 at John Pritchard School; facility moves to level orange restrictions
Officials announced earlier in the day students in Grades 6, 7 and 8, as well as a split Grade 4 and 5 class at the school will move entirely to remote learning for an estimated two weeks.
Manitoba students returned to class Sept. 8 and schools were aiming to have full-time in-class learning for children up to Grade 8.
Since then the province has warned about possible COVID-19 exposures at several schools in Winnipeg and Brandon.
Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen said 11 cases were connected to schools as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile Winnipeg’s four testing sites for COVID-19 reached capacity by 3 p.m. Wednesday — the second day in a row the sites closed early.
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Faking coronavirus: Winnipeg parent pushes schools to screen kids before being sent home
Roussin said Wednesday the province is planning to ramp up COVID-19 testing but could not yet say when that might be.
There were 1,447 tests done on Tuesday in Manitoba, according to provincial data.
Health officials said Manitoba had 283 active cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday. Nine people are in hospital with the virus, including three in intensive care. Sixteen Manitobans have died due to the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began.
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.