COVID-19 daily updates - Tuesday, April 14
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, April 14, 2020
1:10 p.m. No new cases identified in Manitoba
Public health officials advise no additional new cases of COVID-19 were identified as of 9:30 a.m. this morning. The total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba remains at 246.
The data also shows:
• nine individuals are currently hospitalized, which includes four individuals in intensive care;
• 142 active cases;
• 99 individuals have recovered from COVID-19;
• the number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at four.
Cadham Provincial Laboratory performed 365 tests Monday. A total of 17,709 tests have been performed since early February.
Manitobans should not interpret current case numbers to mean the risk of COVID-19 is reduced. The current statistics may be a reflection of the effect strict social distancing measures have had and reaffirms that these measures must be continued.
The chief provincial public health officer has extended public health orders until April 28. Businesses that are not included on the list of critical services must remain closed to the public until April 28. However, these businesses can:
• continue to operate where customers can order goods online or by telephone. However, customers cannot attend the businesses’ premises or property to order goods.
• continue to sell goods to customers where those goods can be picked up ‘curbside’ or delivered to customers. However, customers cannot pick up goods at businesses’ premises or on its property.
• allow staff to attend the businesses’ premises, without a limitation on the number of staff, as long as staff take measures to keep social distancing of one to two metres apart from each other.
• accept delivery of goods and may allow services, such as construction, repairs, maintenance and cleaning to occur at their premises and on their property.
The Manitoba government has announced it will provide health-care staff paid administrative leave for the full 14-day period of asymptomatic self-isolation. Should a worker become symptomatic during self-isolation, the individual will be compensated by sick leave benefits pursuant to their collective agreement.
The community testing site in Brandon is moving to a new, drive-thru location. Starting this afternoon, the site will be located at the Brandon Town Centre, 800 Rosser Ave. Clients can enter from Eighth Street on the P1 level of the centre’s parkade. Regular hours for the relocated Brandon site will resume Wednesday, operating daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The second Community COVID-19 Testing Site and Assessment Clinic in Winnipeg opens tomorrow at Sergeant Tommy Prince Place, 90 Sinclair St. The site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week. This new site will assume testing responsibilities from Mount Carmel Clinic, which will return to its mandate of offering primary care services to the community. The first co-located testing site and assessment clinic opened at the St. James Centennial Pool last week.
Assessment clinics for COVID-19 patients offer primary care services on an appointment basis for anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath. In addition to the primary care space, these locations also serve as designated testing sites in a separate area at the site.
Any person concerned about their exposure to or risk of having COVID-19 should call Health Links–Info Santé at 204-788-8200 or (toll-free) at 1-888-315-9257 to be screened to see if a test is required. For up-to-date information on community screening sites, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/locations.html.
There have been reports of multiple phishing scams and fraud related to COVID-19. Manitobans are advised not to provide any financial data, hang up on the caller and to report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at (toll-free) 1-888-495-8501.
For more information and to access the online screening tool for COVID-19, visit www.manitoba.ca/covid19.
A comprehensive list of Manitoba government COVID-19 measures can be found at
https://manitoba.ca/bg/2020/04/covid19.html.
11:08 a.m. Province to provide greater support & job protection for those impacted by COVID-19
The Manitoba government will now compensate health-care workers who are required to self-isolate for 14 days due to possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.
“Our government recognizes front-line health-care providers are facing extraordinary challenges during this unprecedented time,” said Pallister. “This change will give workers piece of mind knowing they can take the necessary time to protect themselves, their patients, coworkers and the broader community.”
The Manitoba government will provide health-care staff paid administrative leave for the full 14-day period of asymptomatic self-isolation. Should a worker become symptomatic during self-isolation, the individual will be compensated by sick leave benefits, pursuant to their collective agreement, the premier added.
The province is also proposing new provisions to the Employment Standards Code that would allow employees to be away from work for specified reasons related to COVID-19.
After consulting the Labour Management Review Committee, which made a consensus recommendation to provide job protection for employees affected by COVID-19, the province is moving forward with changes that would allow employees protected leave for eligible purposes.
Employees would be able to take as much unpaid time off work as needed to:
• be in isolation or quarantine or take any other control measure in accordance with information or directions related to COVID-19 by health professionals, health officers, Health Links–Info Santé, the government of Manitoba or the Government of Canada, a municipal council or a board of health;
• obtain medical examination, supervision or treatment;
• comply with an order made under The Emergency Measures Act or The Public Health Act;
• provide care or support to a family member as a result of COVID-19, including but not limited to, school and daycare closures; or
• comply with travel restrictions.
The new provisions would apply to any leave that started between March 1, 2020, and a date to be prescribed in regulation, specified once the pandemic is over.
“We want to reassure Manitobans they won’t lose their job for taking leave to comply with public health orders to self-isolate or to seek medical attention or care for a loved one because of COVID-19,” said Pallister. “We all have a role to play in flattening COVID curve and we are committed to helping Manitobans navigate this challenging and unprecedented time.”
The provisions also allow for other communicable diseases to be added by regulation to allow the new leave provisions to be re-instated in cases of future epidemics or pandemics.
The Manitoba government will also be meeting with Manitoba’s public sector union leaders to discuss an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The province is seeking ways to defer non-essential spending across all of government to ensure its ability to redirect resources to front-line health services during this critical time, the premier added.
“Manitobans have every right to expect that their government will do everything it can to address and support our pandemic response and our health-care workers in the front lines,” said Pallister. “We expect that our public service will want to do the right thing to support these efforts and to make sure resources are where they are, when they are needed most.”
In the coming days and weeks ahead, the province will be exploring and discussing various options to reduce non-essential spending, with the primary focus of mitigating the impact and fallout of COVID-19, the premier stated.
A comprehensive list of Manitoba government COVID-19 measures can be found at https://manitoba.ca/bg/2020/04/covid19.html.
Information about provincial and federal supports available for Manitoba employees is listed at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/infomanitobans/workplaces.html.
For more information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.
