For the first time in two weeks, Manitoba health officials have reported a death due to COVID-19. The seventh person to die from the effects of the virus in the province was a man in his 70s in the 麻豆传媒AVern Health/Sante Sud region.
Manitoba chief provincial health officer Dr. Brent Roussi also announced one new case of COVID-19 in Manitoba during a briefing May 5. Four people are in hospital with COVID-19.
鈥淭his person was in hospital, they were previously in intensive care and unfortunately passed yesterday. Our thoughts go out to their friends and family,鈥� Roussin said.
No new cases have been announced in the Northern Health Region for nearly a month.
Any symptomatic Manitoban is eligible to be tested for COVID-19. Only 339 tests were processed in Manitoba in the past 24 hours before the 1 p.m. briefing. Roussin said he thinks the lower numbers are due to a low demand for tests. Any Manitoban with COVID-19 symptoms is encouraged to call Health Links - Info Sant茅 (204-788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257) to schedule a test.
鈥淭he much better indicator of where the virus is in Manitoba is the positive test rate, which is about 0.3 per cent over the past seven days,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e have a very broad testing criteria. Any symptomatic Manitoban can present, we have a number of test sites, so for the most part, it鈥檚 demand right now.鈥�
Officials are also tracking what they called a "cluster of cases" at a workplace in the Prairie Mountain Health Region. Roussin didn鈥檛 say where the outbreak was, but confirmed it was not at a health care facility. The cases were not reported as part of the province's daily case numbers.
鈥淎t this point there鈥檚 no concern from public health that [the cluster] poses a risk to the public,鈥� Roussin said.
鈥淭he investigation has been dealt with at the site itself.鈥�
Workplaces have been some of the biggest infection spreaders in Canada. A slaughterhouse in Alberta has had over 900 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
鈥淒epending on the situation, [an outbreak at a food processing plant] would probably would be something we would disclose given the issues in other places,鈥� Roussin said.
鈥淎t this point, we鈥檙e not disclosing what it is.鈥�
Roussin was asked about why Manitoba is barring drive-in movie theatres from operating. The Big Island Drive-In, located southeast of Flin Flon, is one of a small number of drive-in theatres operating in Manitoba.
Roussin said there was a balance in determining what businesses the province loosened first, but said additional loosening for drive-ins could be on the horizon.
鈥淚 can say with drive-in movie theatres, this is something we are looking at right now, but we'll have information on that in the near future,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s more information comes in and more details come, then we鈥檙e able to change our orders over time to suit what we think is best for Manitobans.鈥�
Earlier in the day, Premier Brian Pallister announced the province would be sending $200 to seniors to help support them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
