Manitoba’s COVID-19 pandemic curve continued to remain essentially flat May 4, with no new cases reported since the previous day.
As of 9:30 a.m. Monday, there had been 281 cases of the novel coronavirus in Manitoba since the first positive test was reported March 12. Of those, 238 are listed as recovered, 37 are considered active and there have been six deaths. Five people with COVID-19 were in hospital May 4, but none of them were in intensive care.
The number of positive tests for the coronavirus in the Northern Regional Health Authority remained at three.
Manitoba has now tested 27,446 people for the virus, including 642 tests that were completed May 3.
Manitoba chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said that any Manitobans with respiratory illness symptoms is eligible to get tested and that the gradual loosening of public health orders and restrictions on non-essential business operations did not mean previous advice about physical distancing should be disregarded.
“Staying home with your immediate family is the best way to protect yourself and others,” he said, noting that if you do gather with other people, it is safer to do so outdoors, provided that people continue trying to remain at least six feet apart from each other.
“Our battle against this virus is not over,” he said. "This virus is still in our province.”
Roussin also said the travel ban into Northern Manitoba and the requirement for people coming to Manitoba from other provinces to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival remain in place.
“The travel restrictions are going to be with us for awhile,” he said.
The ban on travel into the north is not currently being enforced via highway checkpoints or other means, but the ability to do so is there.
“The order is certainly enforceable,” said Roussin. "If we’re getting reports of issues we can certainly follow up with that.”
He also said that there have not been any positive tests for COVID-19 in any First Nations community in Manitoba to date, though he did not divulge how many people who tested positive have self-identified as Indigenous. “I would only release such numbers in collaboration with our Indigenous partners.”
