On the first day of a partial lockdown, Manitoba reported yet another high day of COVID-19 cases. Active cases of COVID-19 are starting to decline in some hard-hit areas, while some remote areas are seeing a surge.
The province reported 474 new cases, over 400 of which were reported within Winnipeg or in the nearby Â鶹ÊÓƵern Health-Sante Sud region. In northern Manitoba, 20 new cases were found Thursday.
A spot of good news can be found in the north - outbreaks in both The Pas/OCN/Kelsey and Cross Lake/Pimicikamak districts are showing early signs of decline. Active cases in both districts are declining, with The Pas district going from 151 to 148 from Wednesday to Thursday and the Cross Lake district sitting now at 65 active cases, one day after reporting 69 active cases.
The Thompson/Mystery Lake district is also seeing a steady decline - the district is now down to 12 active cases, while 10 active cases have been seen in the north marked as "unknown district".
In the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district, two cases of COVID-19 remain active. That number is unchanged from earlier this week. Four people have had the disease previously in the district and recovered.
Unfortunately, numbers in other northern areas are beginning to rise. Active cases in the Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Moose Lake/Mosakahiken/Easterville/Chemawawin district have increased to 21, while Island Lake now has 20 active cases of the disease within the remote district.
No new public exposures or outbreaks have been announced by the province within the Northern Health Region (NHR). Three locations are still listed as "red" under the provincial pandemic response system and are subject to tighter restrictions than elsewhere in Manitoba - the Oscar's Place homeless shelter in The Pas, the Keeyask Generating Station project site near Gillam and the entire community of Cross Lake.
Nine more people have died from COVID-19 in Manitoba, all in Winnipeg except for a man in his 80s in the Â鶹ÊÓƵern Health-Sante Sud region. Several of the deaths - eight of the nine - are tied to existing outbreaks in health facilities and seniors' homes.
Over the past five days, 11 per cent of people who have received COVID-19 tests have tested positive. The province has reported 9,782 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began - 6,030 of those cases remain active, with 227 people in hospital and 34 of those people in intensive care.
During the pandemic, 132 people have died, the vast majority of which have died since the start of October.
