Manitoba moves out of code red as COVID-19 numbers fall again

Manitoba is moving out of code red for the first time in seven months.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer, announced Friday that Manitoba is moving to the orange, or restricted, level ofitspandemic response system.

"Manitobans worked hard and made sacrifices to make this happen," Atwal said, reporting85 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death on Friday.

Winnipeg went to the critical redlevel of the province's pandemic response system on Nov. 2, and was followed by the rest of the province on Nov. 12, as officials struggled to control a rising tide of cases.

On Nov. 12, the province announced474 new cases and nine deaths and theseven-day average daily case count was 373.

As of Friday, the seven-day average is 100, the lowest since April 8, when it was 89.The highest seven-day average of the 15-month pandemic was 482, on May 22.

WATCH | Dr. Jazz Atwal on move to orange level on pandemic response system:

Dr. Jazz Atwal on Manitoba's move to orange level on pandemic response system

3 years ago

Duration 1:32

Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer, said Friday Manitoba is dropping to the orange, or restricted, level on its pandemic response scale but urged residents to continue to follow pandemic fundamentals, even as rules loosen, to curb cases.

Friday's daily count of new cases saw the numbers fall back below the 100 after two days of being above that century mark.

The death is a manin his 70s from the Southern Health region,linked to the B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant of concern.The total number of deaths of Manitobans linked to COVID-19 is now 1,135, including 143 related to variants of concern.

Of the 85 cases, the Winnipeg health region has53. The Interlake-Eastern health region has 10, the Southern Health region has nine, the Northern Health Region has eightand the Prairie Mountain Health region has five.

The daily caseload isn't the only statistic that has gone down.

The current five-day test positivity rate is 5.9 per cent provincially (down from 6.4 on Thursday) and 6.5 per cent in Winnipeg (down from 6.7).

The number of Manitobansin hospital due to COVID-19 has sunk below the 200 mark for the first time since early May. There are currently 197 being treated, whichincludes 66 patients in ICUs: 54in Manitoba,11 in Ontario and one in Alberta.

Hospitalization numbers have been steadily dropping throughout the week. Friday saw a decline of 15from Thursday, which in turn had fallen 10 from Wednesday.

There were 258 Manitobans in hospital a week ago.

Manitoba reported 67 newly identified cases of more infectious coronavirus variants on its provincial variant dashboard, while recoveries from variant infections improved by 52. For the first time in months, the number of active cases related to variants has dropped below 1,000.

There are currently 963 people who are considered to haveactive variant cases.

Restrictions loosen Saturday

Work is underway to develop essential-care partner and visitor guidelines for acute care and long-term care facilities under the new code orange status, Atwal said.

The change from red to orange is reflected in what the next public health orders allow, he said, adding that facemasks are still required in all indoor public places.

As a result of surpassing a target of 70 per cent of Manitobans with one vaccine dose and 25 per cent with two, the provincial government announced it will loosen some restrictions in a new round of public health orders that becomeeffective 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.

As of Friday, 72.2 per cent of Manitobans age 12 or older have a first vaccine dose, according to the province's vaccination dashboard, while 32.9 per cent have two doses.

The newest orders are set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 2. They allowexpanded freedoms for fully vaccinated people, increased gathering sizes, and some types of businesses to reopen at limited capacity for the first time in nearly seven weeks.

They also allownumerous indoor and outdoor activities toresume.

'Power to change your life'

There was another point during code red when the province considered moving into orange andreopening more services and activities.

In late February and into March, there were a number of days with case counts in the 50s and 60s.But things went sideways by the end of the month, with daily numbers soaring from 59 on April 1 to 181 two days later.

Some health experts have expressed concern about the same thing happening again as the highly contagiousB.1617.2 variant, now nameddelta, takes hold.

Thenext target date in the province'sreopening planisthe Terry Fox Day long weekend in August.That's when officials aimto have at least 75 per cent of eligible people immunized with a first dose and 50 per cent with a second dose.

If the province reaches that goal, capacity limits on businesses are expected to increase to 50 per cent.

The third phase of reopening will follow on Labour Day, if80 per cent of Manitobans haveone dose and 75 per cent have two.

Friday was also the first day that all Manitobansbecame eligible for a second COVID-19 vaccine dose as long as at least 28 days have passed since the first shot.

"Getting vaccinated has the power to change your life. It has the power to start returning your life back to what it looked like before the pandemic," Atwal said, pointing out fully vaccinated Manitobans will be exempt from self-isolation after travelling within Canada and will be able to attend sporting events.

He hadno details on capacity limits for large sporting events, saying that will be determinedon a case-by-case basis with each organization.

Data shows approximately350 hospitalizationsfrom June 1-20. Almost 80 per cent of those individuals had not been vaccinated, or received a positive test less than 14 days after a first dose, Atwal said.

WATCH | Dr. Jazz Atwal on vaccination rates across Manitoba:

Dr. Jazz Atwal on vaccination rates across Manitoba

3 years ago

Duration 1:55

Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer of Manitoba, said Friday vaccination rates are increasing provincewide, although uptake remains lower than desired in some areas. Atwal said the province chose to loosen rules for the entire province, not just areas with higher uptake, for the time being, to avoid unintended consequences that may come with regional differences in rules.

More than 12,000 doses are expected to be administered at the RBC Convention Centre supersite on Monday alone, which Atwal said would mark a new Canadian record.

"Until now, the single largest clinic day in Canada was 10,470 at a Toronto clinic," he said.

To dole out 12,000 not only demonstrates an efficient system, it also shows "Manitobans are keen to get vaccinated and help end the pandemic."

State of emergency extended

Atwal was asked why areas in southern Manitoba where the vaccine uptake is extremely low, such as the rural municipality of Stanley (17.5 per cent), which surroundsWinkler,or the RMof Hanover (35.6), which surroundsSteinbach,are allowed to reopen.

He insisted the numbers in those areas are improving day by day and the province is working with several partners, including community leaders, to encourage vaccination.

"Manitoba, collectively, has done well with vaccine uptake and it was felt at this point that we could open up the restrictions and not have regional differences.

"We're going to monitor that situation on an ongoing basis to see where cases do generate and what we can do to mitigate that issue."

Atwal was also asked to clarify the reasons behinda reopening rule that says customers at restaurants or patios must order food, and cannot just go for alcohol.

"We just can't open everything up," he said, suggesting the province doesn't want people to over-imbibeand getcareless around public health orders.

"This virus likes those interactions.We still want to behave, so we're limiting those interactions."

Atwal said he expects to see an increase of cases come fall, as people begin interacting with one another more. It's hard to predict whether Manitoba will see another tightening of restrictions, he said.

"This is a novel virus. We've learned a lot of things from it and then the virus changed on us. It continues to change and evolve.There's always that chance things get worse again," he said.

"There's no way of saying it'll never happen but the more we do now, the more people that get vaccinated, the more that we adhere to the messaging and the orders, the greater chance there is of that not happening."

The province also announced Friday that Manitoba's state of emergency which gives the province more powers to respond to the pandemic will be extended again for a period of 30 days, effective June 27.

The province has been under a state of emergency since March 20, and has renewed it every month.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | June 25, 2021:

Manitoba government daily briefing on coronavirus: June 25

3 years ago

Duration 36:08

Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Friday, June 25, 2021.