Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 13, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A 3NEWS I LOCAL O N the same day Ottawa an-nounced military help is on the way to support the Shamattawa First Nation, Manitoba said 18 more people have died because of COVID-19. The province reported 360 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sat- urday, with a death toll of 483 Mani- tobans from the global pandemic. It's the second-highest number of deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began earlier this year, with at least one more outbreak being declared at a retirement residence in Winnipeg. Meanwhile, Shamattawa is seeing a skyrocketing surge of infections. At least 100 out of the 447 new COVID-19 cases Manitoba reported Friday were in the northern fly-in community. Chief Eric Redhead said 25 per cent of people living on reserve continue to test positive for the virus. That's why he's been pleading with the federal gov- ernment to send in further assistance. On Saturday, Redhead and a spokes- person from the Canadian Armed Forces confirmed the military has now arrived in the First Nation. At least 25 members had arrived by early morning, while more medical crews, nurses and personnel are ex- pected to enter the community later this weekend. Two physicians, four nurses, a phys- ician assistant and two occupational therapists, as well as rapid tests, had already been deployed to the reserve two weeks ago, with the help of the Can- adian Red Cross and Canadian Ranger reservists. While the military sent in a recon- naissance team on Wednesday, by Fri- day evening, it was still analyzing the community's needs. Manitoba chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said Shamattawa "is the hardest-hit community right now" on Friday after announcing how nearly one in four new cases across the prov- ince were in the First Nation. "They're certainly dealing with a sig- nificant outbreak," said Roussin. It remains to be seen whether more assistance will need to be sent in to the reserve, as cases continue to rise. "The military are here to help with a number of things," Redhead said in a statement to the Free Press on Satur- day. That includes making door-to-door grocery delivery, wellness checks and helping the virus response team with contact tracing. They will be also be setting up isola- tion units at a school in the community, he added. "It's important to understand that they are only here to help," said Red- head. "As our local resources are iso- lated, they will be working along side the Bear Clan, Red Cross and the chief and council." Of the 18 deaths reported Saturday, 15 were from the Winnipeg health region. In the capital city, eight of the deaths have been linked to outbreaks at care homes - including Oakview Place Per- sonal Care Home, Charleswood Care Centre and Park Manor Care Home. Outside Winnipeg, one person with COVID-19 died in the Interlake-East- ern health region, and two from the Southern Health-Sant� Sud health re- gion have died. There are now 5,630 active cases of the coronavirus in the province, while 289 people are in hospital and 42 people in intensive care. That figure reflects the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital who are still considered to be in their infectious period. The province did not release a total number that includes longer-term, non-infectious patients. According to the province, the cur- rent five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 13.9 per cent provincially and 13.2 per cent in Winnipeg. - With files from Julia-Simone Rutgers Twitter: @temurdur Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca Province reports 18 more COVID deaths; northern First Nation besieged by virus Military sends medical staff to Shamattawa TEMUR DURRANI LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Brent Roussin, chief public health officer says Shamattawa First Nation is the hardest-hit community right now. WHEN COVID-19 shut down most of their main suppliers in China, health- care agencies worldwide scrambled to find new sources of personal protective gear, lab equipment and drugs. Mani- toba had to get creative by finding lo- cal manufacturers of sanitizer, swabs and gowns, and using human-resources data to estimate how much PPE staff would need. Now, it's one of seven provinces par- ticipating in a study that will map out Canada's health-care supply chain and create a data-tracking model that aims to forecast how much health supplies will cost in emergencies just like the one we're living through. "It's like we're building the bridge we're driving over at the very same time, under pretty extraordinary cir- cumstances," said Anne Snowdon, pro- fessor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Windsor. "Mobiliz- ing data infrastructure and using that modelling will become wildly import- ant." Snowdon is leading the study with funding from a COVID-19 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Re- search. The one-year research project started in June. Using COVID-19 case counts, and supply-chain data provid- ed by provinces, the researchers are figuring out costs, and building what Snowdon calls a "data infrastructure" that's common in private businesses and retail sectors, but doesn't exist in Canada's health departments. "Health systems have not been doing that. Health Canada has not been doing that. But now, they have very quickly realized how important it is to have data infrastructure where you now can forecast, plan for and understand what resources you're going to need to be allocating as the pandemic unfolds," Snowdon said. The first wave of the virus in Canada exposed weaknesses and failures in health-care supply chains, from short- ages of personal protective equipment to time-consuming manual daily count- ing of masks, gloves and other supplies, to a near-complete lack of data collec- tion to track demand for medical sup- plies, early findings of the study show. Some of the researchers' preliminary results were published in the academ- ic journal Healthcare Quarterly this month. In the second wave, researchers are looking at how each province re- organized its health supply chains to meet the demand caused by COVID-19. In Manitoba, that meant a sudden shift to focus on local manufacturing and thinking outside the box to order sup- plies. The Winnipeg Regional Health Au- thority's supply management team fol- lowed news of COVID-19's spread in Asia and started planning in January, earlier than some other jurisdictions. They later engaged the provincial gov- ernment to try to ensure they had at least a 90-day stock of supplies, and used human resources data to figure out how to distribute PPE to employees, researchers learned. They're also trying to determine what health departments learned from the first to the second waves. "Products are more available now than they were in the first wave because China manufacturing opened up, and at the same time, health systems found alternative suppliers, some in Europe, some in the Middle East and many dif- ferent countries. The challenge we have is our data infrastructure in Canada, in virtually every province, is so limited," said Snowdon, who trained as a nurse and started studying supply chains years ago as a way to reduce medical errors. "It actually took a pandemic for many people to say 'Wow, now I finally get why supply chain is so important.'" The study is expected to be complet- ed in June 2021. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay KATIE MAY Study unmasks Canada's health-care supply chain Because the vaccine needs to be stored at temperatures below -70 C, Pfizer will be delivering batches in special thermal shipping boxes, devel- oped to keep the vaccine stable only for a few days. In a statement to the Free Press, a Pfizer spokesperson said the vaccine will be thawed, decanted, and mixed before being injected. But after that process, it can only last a few hours at room temperature, so the company is requesting the first doses only be given on-site where there are ultra- cold freezers in place. To "avoid as much wastage as pos- sible," the spokesperson said Pfizer is asking the "vials not be transported elsewhere" apart from the designated sites. For Manitobans who live in northern territories and other remote or regional areas, that means wait- ing for several more weeks until later stages of the COVID-19 vaccine are ap- proved. "As front-line workers, of course we all want to keep protecting the vulnerable patients we work with," Kumar said Saturday. "But, ultimately, the decision to get this novel vaccine is personal, and I'm concerned about the enthusiasm it will receive from health workers. "Since it's a new and novel vaccine, it's about weighing your risks and benefits. I don't think it'll be accepted uncritically." While the federal vaccine task force has highlighted health-care staff as a priority group for the primary doses, each province is able to modify the national recommendations for imple- mentation based on their regional situation. Ontario, for example, has modified recommendations to use the first batch in Toronto and the Peel region, where severe lockdowns are in place after surging case counts. Kumar said he's worried that could mean not getting the vaccine "fast enough" into the Manitoban communi- ty for other vulnerable groups, such as seniors at long-term or personal care facilities, which have continued to see deteriorating outbreaks. Administrators at the St. Amant Cen- tre for disabilities and assisted-living suspect only about three per cent of their staff will be receiving the shots. But CEO and president John Leggat told the Free Press he worries about the patients themselves. "We've been making calls to our staff as soon as we heard about this because it's an opportunity we don't want them to miss," Leggat said. "I am, however, incredibly con- cerned about the people that we serve who live with disabilities," he added. "They're vulnerable and at high risk of this virus, so we're just going to keep advocating for them to be considered priority as much as we can." In total, the federal government has purchased 20 million doses of the vaccine, and can opt to buy at least 56 million more. By the end of 2020, Canada is set to receive enough doses to vaccinate 124,500 people. Appointments for the primary batches will be made on a "first-come, first-served basis" and have now started filling up, the province said Saturday. When they call, health work- ers will also be booked for a second appointment. "Additional dates will be added to immunize front-line workers as soon as possible, based on the next deliveries of the vaccine," a provincial spokesper- son said in a statement. Twitter: @temurdur Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca FIRST IN LINE ? FROM A1 MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister: we are helping to protect our entire health-care system. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS TAKING IN THE LIGHTS A holiday light display in Lindenwoods draws a line of drive-thru spectators Saturday evening. With periods of snow, strong northwest winds and a high of -5 C in today's forecast, dress warmly for any outdoor activities. A_03_Dec-13-20_FP_01.indd A3 2020-12-12 10:19 PM ;