COVID-19

Manitoba is again reporting a drop in the number of patients in hospital and ICU with COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, there are 697 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19, down from 702 on Monday. There are 40 Manitobans in ICU with COVID-19, down from 47 on Monday.

Premier Jason Kenney announced he'll be appearing live at 5 p.m. today (Feb. 8) with an announcement about COVID restrictions.

Kenney made the announcement via tweet, saying he'll be announcing the province's "return to normal," via a "careful and prudent plan."

"Today at 5 pm I will announce Alberta’s path back to normal - a careful and prudent plan to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline. Please tune in.

— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) February 8, 2022"

Premier Jason Kenney announced he'll be appearing live at 5 p.m. today (Feb. 8) with an announcement about COVID restrictions.

Kenney made the announcement via tweet, saying he'll be announcing the province's "return to normal," via a "careful and prudent plan."

Today at 5 pm I will announce Alberta’s path back to normal - a careful and prudent plan to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline.

Please tune in.

Albertans will learn the fate of COVID-19 health restrictions this evening. 

In a Tweet, Premier Jason Kenney said he would announce Alberta’s plan to lift public health restrictions on Tuesday (Feb. 8). 

Today at 5 pm I will announce Alberta’s path back to normal - a careful and prudent plan to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline.

Please tune in.

Application wait times for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) are being put under the microscope by Kenora MP, Eric Melillo.

Melillo took to the House of Commons last week to ask what specific measures the Minister of FedNor is doing to resolve wait times.

“It’s clear that small businesses, municipalities, First Nations, and communities across Northwestern Ontario rely on this department for support and they really need clarity on the status of their applications,” Melillo said.

Public health officials in Manitoba now recommending a booster shot against COVID-19 for some 12 to 17-year-olds.

Dr. Joss Reimer, Head of Manitoba's Vaccine Implementation Task Force says today's recommendation follows guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) that some young people receive a third dose if they are at high risk of severe outcomes due to medical or social risk factors.

The third dose will be offered at least six months after the second dose. Several eligibility factors define who among this age group can get this booster:

The province is reducing isolation times for people exposed to COVID-19. 

Effective Thursday (Feb.3), Alberta will recommend unvaccinated asymptomatic household contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases stay home for ten days after exposure instead of the current 14-day recommendation. 

Chief medical officer of health, Dr Deena Hinshaw, explained the change falls in line with new data. 

Manitoba continues to report on the recorded number of COVID-19 cases. However, it is important to note this data is limited and should be used with caution. It includes cases confirmed by a PCR test as well as rapid tests given by health care professionals. Positive test results from rapid antigen tests, which people generally do at home, are not collected or reported. As a result, these numbers are an under-reporting of COVID-19 in the community.

As the province sees a reduction in key public health indicators Ontario has gradually eased long-term care homes restrictions as of Monday (February 7, 2022).

“Our government responded swiftly to the Omicron variant to protect the health and safety of residents and staff in long-term care homes,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “With public health and health care indicators now improving, we are cautiously lifting these measures so our residents can spend time with more friends and family that play such an important role in their health and wellbeing.”

The provincial government released its second last daily COVID-19 update Saturday afternoon. Changes to the management of COVID-19 effective Monday will see the updates released on a weekly basis.  

In the update Saturday, there were 948 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported, along with one death linked to COVID-19. There were also 1,204, bringing the number of active cases across the province to 9,785.