Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 19, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 A 2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada VOL 150 NO 41 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2020 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an in- dependent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. 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GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 COVID-19 AT A GLANCE Cases: MANITOBA Confirmed: 22,397 Resolved: 16,248 Deaths: 547 Active: 5,602 CANADA Confirmed: 495,346 Resolved: 405,611 Deaths: 14,040 (As of 6:30 p.m. Friday) The latest: ? The federal government will distribute $30 million to Indigenous communities and about $65 million to local organizations across Canada to support food security during the COVID-19 pandemic, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said. At a virtual news conference Friday, Bibeau said Food Banks Canada and Breakfast Club of Canada will each receive $18.5 million, and Community Food Centres Canada, Second Harvest and The Salvation Army will also receive just under $9 mil- lion each. Ottawa originally announced the $100 million in October for the emergency food security fund, which had already received $100 million in the spring. ? A meat-processing plant in Guelph, Ont., is tem- porarily closing following a COVID-19 outbreak. The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph public health unit said on Thursday that at least 82 people at the Cargill plant have tested positive. About 130 workers, both positive cases and close contacts, are self-isolating, it said. The plant's idling process began on Thursday but to prevent food waste, Cargill said it will process the nearly 1.55 million-meals-worth of meat currently in the facility before completely shutting down. Cargill said it's en- couraging other employees at the 1,000-worker facility to get tested. ? Vice-President Mike Pence became the highest ranking U.S. official to receive the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday in a live- television event aimed at reassuring Americans the shot is safe. Pence didn't flinch during the shot, nor did his wife, Karen, or Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who also received shots during the event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also received COVID-19 vaccinations Friday. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife will be getting the vaccine Monday, while vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and her husband are set to receive it the week after next. ? The head of the World Health Organization says its program to help get COVID-19 vaccines to all countries in need, whether rich or poor, has gained access to nearly two billion doses of several vaccine candidates. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the agreements mean that some 190 countries and economies participating in the COVAX program will have access to vaccines "during the first half of next year." The arrangements bring together phar- maceutical makers including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and the Serum Institute of India. He says the message is "vaccines will complement, not replace, the existing effective tools we have for suppressing transmission and saving lives." Quote: "I believe that in many areas of the country, stricter measures should be put in place as soon as possible." - Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, as COVID-19 caseloads continue to riseDownload the COVID Alert app: wfp.to/covidapp N EW COVID-19 infections climbed above 300 - dashing a five-day streak of case counts in the 200- plus range - while 10 more Manitobans died due to the disease, the province re- ported Friday. Dr. Jazz Atwal, acting deputy chief provincial public health officer, said 133 of 350 new cases detected were from the Winnipeg health region. Elsewhere, a jump of 89 cases re- ported in Northern Health could be attributed to a number of outbreaks in First Nations communities. Fifty-seven new infections were reported in South- ern Health, 40 in Interlake-Eastern, and 31 in Prairie Mountain. "While our case numbers are getting better, we had 10 deaths today," Atwal said. "And our hospitalization and ICU numbers still remain high." The province's five-day test positivity remains high, at 13.6 per cent, and 13.1 per cent in Winnipeg. Labs performed 2,167 tests Thursday. "We know through sentinel surveil- lance that other viruses really aren't circulating in Manitoba," Atwal said. "It's likely remaining high because that is the only virus that's circulating. There's a lot of tests being done in out- break situations, so that sort of increas- es that test positivity a little bit as well." Atwal said the province is not seeing exponential growth in COVID-19 cases, and overall fewer cases in Manitoba, com- pared to the height of the second wave. "It seems that we're heading in the right direction." Atwal said the province is also improving its contact tracing process, and is getting quicker at tallying re- covered, versus active, cases of the virus with an auto-dialing system. Tracers are reaching about 60 per cent of contacts within one day, and 95 per cent within two days. As of Friday, people who have been tested for COVID-19 can choose to get a text message to alert them when results are available. "We've seen tremendous improve- ment in that over the past several weeks," he said. Half of the deaths announced Friday were related to outbreaks in personal care homes: a woman in her 80s linked to Kin Place (Oakbank); a man in his 80s linked to Gilbert Plains care home; a man in his 80s linked to Salem Home (Winkler); a woman in her 90s linked to Convalescent Home of Winnipeg; and a woman in her 90s linked to Charles- wood Care Centre (Winnipeg). The province also announced the pandemic deaths of a man in his 40s, a man in his 50s, a woman in her 70s, and a man in his 90s from Southern Health; and a woman in her 60s from Winnipeg. As of Friday morning, there were 305 people in hospital with COVID-19, in- cluding 43 in intensive care. Additional- ly, another 73 non-infectious COVID-19 patients remained in hospital, including seven in ICUs. "Our acute care colleagues continu- ously advise us that it's busy - they are maxed out," Atwal said. "Staffing issues will come over the next little bit of time with holidays, in different parts of the province, especially in different communities as well... We want to be able to manage this as best as we can. "The focus needs to be for everyone to stay at home to reduce that risk. Let's have a good start to 2021." Atwal reminded Manitobans enforce- ment of public health orders over the holiday season is possible, including a knock on the door should enforcement officers suspect multiple households are getting together. "The orders are there. Again, they are enforceable," Atwal said. "It's a tool we have in our toolbox and I think people need to be aware of that." Meanwhile, an outbreak has been de- clared at Thompson General Hospital. Outbreaks have concluded at Brook- lyn Terrace (Steinbach), Boyne Lodge (Carman), and in Winnipeg at River- view Health Centre, Concordia care home, Pembina Place, Southeast care home and Actionmarguerite St. Vital. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca 350 new COVID-19 cases, 10 more deaths for Manitoba DANIELLE DA SILVA JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba's acting deputy chief provincial public health officer, says it seems Manitoba is heading in the right direction but hospitalizations and ICU numbers remain high. A_02_Dec-19-20_FP_01.indd A2 2020-12-18 9:19 PM ;