Manitoba health officials identified 72 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, breaking a new record for the largest single day spike the province has recorded throughout the pandemic.
The previous record was 42 cases, set on Saturday. Of the 72 new cases, 45 are in the Prairie Mountain Health Region, where new restrictions are set to come into effect Monday. Masks will be mandatory in public places and group sizes will be limited to 10 people both indoors and outdoors.
The province’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said that 47 of the cases are in communal-living settings, some of which include Hutterite colonies.
“These testing campaigns are indicative of the fact that these communities are being co-operative and working with public health to try to limit the spread of the virus,” said Roussin, as he urged Manitobans to not stigmatize.
“Let’s remember that Hutterite colonies were among the first Manitoba groups to step up and sew masks, to bring food to food banks, to supply hospitals with masks and other things. And they’ve been there in the past, as well, in the same way,” said health minister Cameron Friesen
For a fourth straight day, Manitoba has now also watched its active case also hit a record-high, this time with 356 currently infected patients.
Throughout the pandemic, Manitoba has had 944 COVID-19 cases. That includes 576 people who have recovered and 12 fatalities.
On July 14, the province came very close to having no active cases. That day, after all of its initial patients had recovered, health officials diagnosed five other people. Since then, Manitoba has seen its curb trend upwards. On Aug. 12, for the first time, the province surpassed 200 active cases. It’s a mark it hasn’t fallen under since, with Sunday also being the first day that the province has eclipsed 300.
