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Last night, Manitobans had the chance to take part in a town hall phone call with the province to ask any questions they had about the back to school plan.

17 people quizzed Manitoba’s Education Minister, Kelvin Goertzen and Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr Brent Roussin for an hour.

The topics of masks, substitute teachers, cohorts and contact tracing were covered as well as what can be done for immune-compromised families, students with special needs, and students with anxieties about going back to school. 


A few people asked why the government decided against mandating masks for everyone in schools.

The guidelines issued by the province strongly recommend the use of masks for staff and students in grades 5 and up but only mandates masks for students on buses in grades 5 and up.

Roussin answered, saying the virus doesn’t have a high rate of transfer among younger children.

“The other thing is just the expectation of adherence to proper mask use, and so the amount of times that these kids would be touching their face and bringing the mask down is really counter-productive.”

 

One caller was worried that substitute teachers moving from school to school could be exposing themselves and multiple cohorts.

Goertzen referenced back to the beginning of the pandemic when personal care homes experienced outbreaks with ties to workers that moved between facilities, before adding that nurses do considerably different work than teachers or substitutes.

“Our expectation is that teachers will be that two metres removed from the students.”

 

On the topic of cohorts and contact tracing, Roussin said the order of business would be notifying school administrators, the school community, then the rest of Manitoba.

When a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, health officials will look into close contacts that spent more than 15 minutes within two metres of the positive case.

Roussin added that it’s possible an entire cohort could have to isolate, adding that it also could be a small number of close contacts.

 

The province says medically fragile students can stay home if they have a recommendation from a health professional to do so, other than that, students and those with common chronic conditions, are expected to be at school.

 

When asked about back to school anxieties, Goertzen brought up the mental health and well-being guidelines for divisions and suggested all divisions should have supports ready for students experiencing anxiety.

"There is going to be an increased anxiety among young people, but we don't know to what extent."

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At 10:13 a.m. CDT on Wednesday morning, Saskatoon police confirmed they safely located the 4-year-old girl.
 
They say the situation does not appear to be criminal, and police will be holding a press conference later in the day to provide further details.

This comes after an Amber Alert was issued after a 4-year-old girl was reported to have been taken from her Saskatoon home by a stranger early Tuesday morning.

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Health officials in Manitoba are reporting 17 new cases of COVID-19, and two more deaths in their Tuesday update.

Both of the deaths reported Tuesday are from the Southern Health region. Manitoba now has a total of 748 cases, and 11 deaths related to COVID-19.

Two of today’s new cases are in the Prairie Mountain Health region — with 11 in the Winnipeg health region. There have been no new cases announced in the Dauphin health district today.

Manitoba has 235 active cases of COVID-19, and 502 people listed as recovered.

There are 8 people in hospital because of the virus, with two in intensive care.

Testing numbers show an additional 1,028 laboratory tests were completed on Monday, bringing the total number of tests completed since early February to 116,990.

Manitobans are strongly encouraged to return to the fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This means not going out while you feel ill, practising proper hand hygiene, covering your cough and physical distancing when you are with people outside your household. If you cannot physical distance, wear a mask. 

Unless recommended by public health, only individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should go for testing. Individuals with symptoms are asked to seek testing as soon as possible once symptoms are present.

For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, click here.  

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There’s been another fatality on Manitoba’s roads according to RCMP.

On Monday evening, an 18-year-old man died after a collision near the intersection of Highway 1 and PR 257 in Virden.

RCMP say the driver was approaching the intersection when he lost control of his vehicle and rolled into the ditch.

The man was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle.

Alcohol is believed to be a factor.

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A search of a residence on the Sandy Bay First Nation by RCMP and the Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS) resulted in several arrests, and the seizure of various weapons, and drugs.

In the early morning hours on Saturday, August 15, officers executed a search warrant at a residence on the Sandy Bay First Nation.

This led to the recovery of a loaded shotgun with a large amount of shotgun ammunition, two pellet guns, a ballistic vest, bear spray, and a collapsable baton.

MFNPS also say officers recovered an unspecified amount of drugs believed to be crystal methamphetamine, and $1,020 in cash.

Police located 7 people in the residence, who were arrested and held in custody. One male suspect was not located at the residence and there is a warrant out for his arrest.

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Yesterday afternoon around 4:40, Fisher Branch RCMP responded to an off-road vehicle collision on a Peguis First Nation road.

Officers have determined a 9-year-old boy, from Peguis First Nation, was operating a quad when he drove out from the brush and collided with another quad, being driven by a 13-year-old boy, also from Peguis First Nation.

The impact threw the 9-year-old off his quad and he struck the ground.

After being rushed to the hospital, the 9-year-old succumbed to his injuries.

RCMP say the two boys weren't wearing helmets when they collided.

The investigation is continuing.

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As a part of the Dauphin Co-op’s Communities in Full Colour program, they’ve donated 40 gallons of stain to the Fort Dauphin Museum.

The work to refurbish the Fort Dauphin Museum’s log buildings began this summer and is expected to finish up in the fall.

The Fort Dauphin Museum needs volunteers to help apply the stain.

Anyone that’s interested can contact Executive Director/Curator Theresa Deyholos at 204-638-6630 to make arrangements.

The Dauphin Co-op’s goal from the Communities in Full Colour program is to enrich the lives of the surrounding communities.

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The rating of a powerful tornado on August 7th just outside of Virden has been upgraded to EF-3.

Original information released by Environment and Climate Change Canada indicated the twister should be rated EF-2 and the wind speeds reached 190 km/hr.

A new statement released by the agency says the storm damage survey, as well as additional information received later on, indicates wind speeds of 260 km/hr, upgrading the tornado to EF-3.

The tornado hospitalized a 54-year-old man with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and took the lives of two 18-year-olds from Melita, Shayna Barnesky and Carter Tilbury.

Police say the teens were ejected from their vehicle when the storm hit.

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August 18 10:00 Update:

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will be taking over the role, making her the first female finance minister in Canadian history.

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Reports say that Canada's Finance Minister, Bill Morneau is resigning.

He had a press conference scheduled this evening, after meeting with the Prime Minister, where it was said he would be talking to reporters about reported disagreements about COVID-19 spending plans and proposed environmental initiatives.

After it was revealed that Morneau had forgotten to repay $41,366 in travel expenses covered by the WE Charity, he'd been under pressure to step down.

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Tomorrow night, Manitoba’s education minister and chief public health officer will be answering questions and addressing your concerns about the province’s school reopening plan.

Minister Kelvin Goertzen, Dr. Roussin, and other officials are hosting a telephone town hall at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18.

You can still register for that telephone town hall, by clicking here.

On Monday, the Mountain View School Division released its plan for the upcoming school year. You can read more about it here.

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Cary Fillion is giving an update to the community, a week after it was announced a Cary Fillion’s Twin Motors staff member tested positive for COVID-19. 

Staff at the dealership were informed about the individual's positive COVID test result on Sunday, August 8 — at which point, a Public Health investigation confirmed the individual was not in “direct contact” with any other staff members during their infectious period.

Cary Fillion's Twin Motors has remained open through this time, at the direction of provincial health officials.

Although public health didn’t require it, Fillion says that staff members wanted to get tested “just for their own peace of mind”. After going for testing on Monday & Tuesday, and getting results back on Thursday & Friday, Fillion says he’s happy to report the test results all came back negative.

Fillion also provided an update on the staff member who tested positive for COVID-19, saying they are healthy, happy, and still a little bored while isolating at home.

Going forward, Fillion says the store has gone above and beyond public health recommendations, and is encouraging the community to keep up the effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Fillion and his staff are thanking the public for their messages of support.

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