The Manitoba government is extending strict public health orders aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19.
With hospitals filling up and some patients being shipped to Ontario, some rules enacted for the May long weekend will remain in place until the end of the week.
That includes no gatherings, indoors or out, except among members of the same household, although there is a small exemption for people who live alone.
Another rule that requires only one person per household to enter a store or other public business will also remain in effect.
Some doctors in the province are calling for tighter restrictions including a stay-at-home order to prevent intensive care units from being overwhelmed.
The province’s intensive care units are operating 50 per cent above their pre-pandemic capacity and 18 patients have been transferred to Ontario in the past week.
There were 259 new cases of COVID-19 announced on Tuesday, the first day with fewer than 300 cases since May 5. That included 15 new cases in Prairie Mountain Health.
Two more Manitobans were reported to have deaths linked to the virus, a man in his 30 from Winnipeg and a woman in her 80s from Southern Health-Santé Sud. The woman’s death was linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus.
After not sending out a media release on cases because of Victoria Day, the province also provided information regarding the four Manitobans whose deaths were reported on Monday.
On Tuesday, there were two deaths in Prairie Mountain Health, a man in his 40s and a man in his 50s. Both deaths are linked to the B.1.1.7 variant. There were also two deaths in Southern Health-Santé Sud, both men in their 70s.
The current five-day test positivity rate is 13.8 per cent provincially and 15.9 per cent in Winnipeg.
