Manitoba reports 2 more deaths at Parkview Place and record-setting 146 new cases of COVID-19

Manitoba is reporting 146new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, setting a record daily high for the second consecutive day and thefourth time in aweek.

The province also announced twomore COVID-19-related deathsa man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, both from Winnipeg.

A provincial spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening that both of those people were residents at Parkview Place in Winnipeg.

The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4.4 per cent, which is also a record. The previous record was 3.5 per cent, announced Tuesday.

Wednesday's case total isthe fourth record-breaking day in less than a week. It follows 124 new cases announced on Tuesday the first triple-digit daily tally of the pandemic.

The majority of Wednesday's cases 114 are in the Winnipeghealth region.

Since last week, Manitoba has matched or broken records for daily case counts multiple times and announced more than one death onmany days.

Three deaths were announced Oct. 7, followed by three more on Oct. 9. Two more deaths on Oct. 12 included Manitoba's youngest COVID-19 victim to date, a man in his 40swith no underlying conditions.

The outbreak atParkview Placein Winnipeg has now become the deadliest at a Manitoba personal care home, with nine deaths there now linked to COVID-19.

That outbreakincludes a total of 89 people 67residents and 22 staffaccording to a news release fromRevera, the companythat operates Parkview.

During question period in Manitoba's Legislature Wednesday, NDP health criticUzoma Asagwarasaid the province's response to this outbreak has been insufficient.

"We know the staff are doing their best but this facility was not ready to manage an outbreak or to mitigate it," Asagwara said.

"This did not have to happen. Much more needs to be done to mitigate the outbreak and keep it from further spreading."

In response, Health Minister Cameron Friesensaid no jurisdiction has been immune to outbreaks in personal care homes. He said it's a tragedy, butthe province has taken action todeal withthe situation.

"We are taking the proper steps. We believe our prompt interventions have saved lives," he said.

The province reported the total number of COVID-19-related deaths as37 on Wednesday.There have been 17 deaths in Manitobasince Oct. 1 alone.

The locations of new casesin the province are:

• 114 in the Winnipeg health region.
• 17 in the Southern Health region.
• Nine in the Interlake-Eastern health region.
• Four in the Northern Health Region.
• Two in the Prairie Mountain Health region.

There are now 27 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Manitoba three of whom are in intensive care.

Manitoba has reported 2,925 COVID-19 cases since the first cases in the province were announced in March.

There were 2,200 tests completed Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests in Manitoba since early February to 215,861.

School exposures

Public health officials are also advising about possible exposures at four schoolsMitchell Middle School in the community of Mitchell,Margaret Park Schoolin north Winnipeg,Acadia Junior High in south Winnipeg andClearspring Middle School in Steinbach.

The exposure at Mitchell Middle School happenedOct. 7-9, buthealth officials don'tbelieve the infection wasacquired at the school and the risk of the exposure is assessed aslow. However, close contacts are being advised to self-isolate and monitor for symptoms, and seek testing if symptoms develop.

The exposure atMargaret Park wason Oct. 5 andOct. 7, while the exposure atAcadia wasOct. 5-6. In both cases,the risk of exposure has been assessed as low and the infections are not believed to have been acquired at the schools. Close contacts have been advised to self-isolate.

Hanover School Division did not release information in itsnotice about the date, or dates, of exposure at Clearspring Middle School, but said anyone identified as a close contact of the confirmed case will be contacted directly by public health.

WestJet exposure

Public health officials have also identified possibleexposureson aWestJet flightfrom Edmonton to Winnipeg.

Individuals who were seated in rows one to five on Flight WS204,on Oct. 2,are advised to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms.

Passengers on this flight,but not in the affected seats, should self-monitor for symptoms and self-isolate if they develop.

There were 2,200 tests completed Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests in Manitoba since early February to 215,861.

Cases on reserves

As of Wednesday, the federal government said there have beena total of 81 COVID-19 cases on First Nations reserves in Manitoba, but the national data doesn't say how many of those cases are considered recovered.

The chief and council at Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation,about 225 kilometres north of Winnipeg, issued a community notice on Wednesday saying two positive cases had been detected over the weekend, bringing the total number of active cases on the reserve to three.

"We understand how these newdifficult,frustrating, and scary times can be on our community's health and safety," the notice states.

"KFN chief and council continue to urge members to refrain from going to the city of Winnipeg and any of the other areas identified as restricted (orange) by the province of Manitoba's pandemic response system."

Members are also urged to stay within family/social bubbles, and to keep a record of places they visit and anyone with whom theycome into contact.

"We will get through this together," the notice says.

The leadership of Long Plain First Nation issued a notice to its community members Wednesday evening that there have been cases confirmed on itsKeeshkeemaquah Reserve, near Portage la Prairie. The notice, which was posted to Facebook, didn't say how many cases had been confirmed.

The remote fly-in community of Little Grand Rapids, about 270 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, has reported that its outbreak grewto33confirmed cases on the weekend.

Dr. Rafiq Andani, medical directorfor Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 response teams, said the outbreak on that reserve is the biggest so far on a First Nation in the province.

His rapid response team remainsin the community and is organizingalmost-daily flights out of Little Grand Rapids for COVID-positive patients, who are being flown to Winnipeg.

Outbreak at Thompson YWCA

An outbreak of COVID-19 has also been declared at the YWCA in Thompson, which has been housing about 25 homeless people during pandemic.

The non-profit organization also offers education and life-skills programs for men and women.

The province announcedWednesday the facility has been put into the critical (red) level of the pandemic response system.

No information has been released yet on the number of cases connected with the YWCA.