COVID-19

Public health officials advise 20 new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

The Province of Manitoba says in one week there were 335 new hospitalizations and an even higher rate of new intensive care admissions due to the COVID-19 virus.

There are 601 people in the hospital, with 569 of those people having active cases of the virus. One week ago there were 378 people in the hospital.

This weekend the province says they say "a 40.2 per cent increase from the previous week" in hospitalizations. Intensive care has an 85 per cent increase in demand.

A pastor from southeastern Manitoba has been fined again for disregarding public health orders.

Tobias Tissen is Pastor of the Church of God Restoration near Pansy. He posted a video on Facebook of RCMP officers handing him two tickets last week for failing to quarantine.

Tissen posted a video in December saying he was out of the country and made it clear that he is not vaccinated but received an exemption in order to fly.

According to police, the infractions happened on December 24th and 25th for failing to quarantine.

As of January 2022, over 94% of the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.  

In newly updated statistics from the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU), the region is trending positively with the amount of confirmed administered COVID-19 vaccine doses.  

The Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) has reported 109 new cases of COVID-19 in the region.

There are currently six NWHU residents in hospital with COVID-19, two of which are in local hospitals.

The health unit says the overall hospital occupancy in the region is 67.1 per cent, overall acute care occupancy is 73 per cent and there are no people in Intensive Care Units in the region.

The health unit adds those who live or work in hospitals, LTC, First Nations communities, congregate living and shelters are being PCR tested.

AHS has launched an updated COVID-19 assessment tool. 

The sheer number of Omicron variant cases is putting pressure on numerous systems.

The increase of volume on Health Link has prompted a need for an updated assessment tool to help people manage their symptoms. 

The COVID-19 Assessment & Testing Tool will help Albertans assess their symptoms and determine if they should talk to a professional healthcare member about their situation.

It’s a big day for elementary, and secondary school students as they return to in-person learning Monday (January 17, 2022), after learning virtually since January 5, 2022.

Dr. Kit Young Hoon, Medical Officer of Health for the Northwestern Health Unit is in support of the government's decision to re-opening schools.

“School closures have been documented to have a negative effect on children’s health, so things such as physical activity get reduced, nutrition tends to worsen, and mental health tends to worsen with school closures,” Young Hoon said.

Bearskin Lake First Nations declared a state of emergency on December 29, 2021, due to a rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in the community. The virus spread quickly and as of now, over half of the community's population has tested positive.  

Due to the remote location of the community and the severity of the outbreak, community members have been struggling, most families are limited to their homes.  

The Dryden Regional Health Centre is expanding its COVID-19 Assessment Centre in response to an increase in COVID-19 activity in the region.

The new COVID-19 Assessment and Treatment Centre aims to provide clinical services for COVID-19, including testing, diagnosis and treatment to patients experiencing moderate or worsening symptoms without needing to access the emergency department.

The provincial government reported there was a jump in hospitalizations with COVID-19 Saturday.  

In the update released Saturday afternoon, there were 19 more people in hospital with COVID-19 compared to Friday as the number moved up to 150. There were also three more people in intensive care, bringing that total to 11.