COVID-19

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) is working with the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) following COVID-19 exposures at Valleyview Public School and Sioux Narrows Public School.

As a result, one classroom at each school has been closed and students will move to virtual learning to allow time for contact tracing.

The KPDSB says families of the closed classrooms were contacted Saturday afternoon and anyone not contacted can attend school as usual on Monday.

The federal government says that as of November 30, fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents who are visiting the United States for less than 72 hours will not need a costly molecular test for COVID-19 in order to return home.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also says that by the end of the month, travellers who received the Sinopharm, Sinovac and Covaxin vaccines will be considered fully vaccinated for travel purposes.

The pen has been put to paper to officially begin phase one of the twinning construction on the TransCanada highway by spring of 2022.

The announcement was made Friday at the Ontario/Manitoba border by Minister of Transportation, Caroline Mulroney, and Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources, and Forestry.

The Alberta Government has recently implemented a new program to help businesses that are participating in the Restrictions Exemption Program (REP).  

The $20-million Restrictions Exemption Program Implementation Grant is now open to all eligible businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations. Small and medium-sized organizations may use the one-time funding as they see fit. 

A mandatory vaccination policy will soon be implemented at Kenora’s Lake of the Woods District Hospital, affecting both visitors and staff.

On November 11, hospital leadership and its Board of Directors approved implementing a mandatory vaccination policy that applies to all hospital staff, professional staff, volunteers, visitors, learners, contractors and service providers across all of their sites.

As of December 1, 2022, all visitors and essential care partners will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to visit their facilities.

COVID-19 vaccine appointments for youth aged five to 11 will open up on Monday.

The Province of Manitoba says Health Canada has approved a 10 microgram COVID-19 vaccine for youth.

Parents and guardians can book appointments starting at 6 a.m. either online or call the vaccine call centre at (toll-free) 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC).

Approximately 125,000 children will be eligible for the vaccine in Manitoba. Vaccine clinics, physicians’ offices, pharmacies, urban Indigenous clinics and pop-up community clinics will be able to administer the vaccine.

As of November 30, fully vaccinated Canadian travellers returning from short trips to the US, will not require proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test, like the pricey PCR test. The change also includes fully vaccinated, permanent residents.

The federal government announced today (Friday, November 19) that it is lifting the molecular test requirement for fully COVID-19 vaccinated travellers when returning to Canada from the US after less than 72 hours.

However, the molecular test requirement will still be required for trips abroad lasting more than 72 hours.

Four more Manitobans who contracted COVID-19 have died.

There are 201 new COVID-19 cases Friday. This includes 116 unvaccinated people, 79 fully vaccinated people, and six partially vaccinated people.

Cases by health region include:

• 66 in Southern
• 62 in Winnipeg
• 26 in Northern
• 26 in Prairie Mountain
• 21 in Interlake-Eastern

Manitoba's five-day test rate is 5.2 per cent.

There is a total of 66,378 COVID-19 cases, including 1,449 active cases. There are 63,644 recoveries.

Health Canada has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 in Canada.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech submitted a request for approval of a child-sized dose of its mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 on October 18.

The companies say the results of their trials in children show comparable safety and efficacy results to those recorded in a previous Pfizer-BioNTech study in adults aged 16 to 25.

Health Canada said it would only approve the vaccine for children if its analysis showed the benefits outweigh the potential risks.

Staff with the Northwestern Health Unit are reporting 5 new cases of COVID-19 across their catchment area today.

Today’s cases include 4 in the Kenora region, and 1 in the District of Rainy River. Overall, this brings the NWHU’s total cases to 6, with the additional 1 case in the Dryden / Red Lake area.

Follow up with the persons involved and their contacts has started according to protocol, anyone who is identified as a contact for these cases will be reached directly by the NWHU staff.