Manitoba health officials announce 1 new COVID-19 case, 205 recoveries

Manitoba public health officials have identified one new case of COVID-19,bringing the total number to 272.

There are currently 61 active cases with seven people in hospital and two of those in intensive care.

The number of deaths remains at six.

Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer for Shared Health, also announcedthat starting Friday, Manitoba health-care workers will only be allowed to work in one personal care home (PCH).

Staff with the most direct, prolonged contact with care home patients will be restricted to one facility for six months. This will applyto both private and public facilities, she said.

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Tool kits have been issued to all 127 licensed personal care homes in the provinceto help them implementthe changes, saidSiragusa. It is a tight timeline but a necessary one, she said.

The province is aware some employees work at two, three or even more sites, she said. Officials will try to ensure they get all of their hours in one place instead.

Officials in Saskatchewan have saidsome things should be reopened as early as May 4, while Quebec has said thereopening of some elementary schools is imminent.

"We're going to announce the detailed plan this week,"Chief Public Health OfficerDr. BrentRoussin, said when asked on Monday when Manitobans could start to see thestart of non-essential businessesreopening.

However, he did not give an exact day.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | April 27, 2020:

Manitoba government daily briefing on coronavirus: April 27

4 years ago

Duration 38:58

Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Monday, April 27, 2020.

It's a question Roussin has been asked many times and has said the province is hoping to ease those measures somewhat in the upcoming weeks.

"Again it's not a return to normal. There'll be a number of restrictions on that," he said.

As for sending studentsback to school before the end of this school year, Roussin said that has been discussed as part of the re-open plan.

"We know that, unlike the influenza and unlike many other respiratory illnesses, young children seem not to be big spreaders of COVID-19. So that's why there's some push to returning some kids to school," he said, but noted that doesn't mean it is withoutrisk.

"The risk is just the pure volume there's lots of kids to return there and we don't wantmore spread, even though it seems to be less likely in children."

WATCH | Dr. Brent Roussin talks about the push to return kids to school:

'Younger children are not playing as big a role as they do in other kind of respiratory illness'

4 years ago

Duration 0:42

Dr. Brent Roussin, says while kids aren't playing as big of a role spreading COVID-19 as other respiratory illnesses, the volume of students at school is still a potential risk.

Canada's deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, has told federal and provincial health officials there area number of identified criteria that must be met when it comes to relaxing restrictions around the pandemic.

Those include ensuring each province has evidence that transmission of COVID-19 is well controlled in their borders and that public health systems can properly diagnose infections and do contact tracing.

But the full list of criteria has not been released. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked Monday when that list would be made public.

He said they are still being finalized but include things like making sure there is enough medical capacity to handle a surge of cases, enough testing is in place, and establishing protocol for how industries will keep people safe.

He also called them "shared guidelines" agreed to by all provinces and territories, not federally-mandated ones.Roussin said Manitoba is well positioned for the guidelines.

"We will be meeting them, especially with the measures in the PCH," hesaid.

"We still have to watch our PPEsupplies but certainly within range of all of those things by the end of the week is where we're looking to be."