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So far, 23 infections caused by the B.1.1.7 or United Kingdom variant have been identified in Northern Manitoba as well as two that have not been categorized. Manitoba reported 261 new COVID cases April 22, including 159 in Winnipeg, 36 in the north, 31 in the southern health region, 25 in the Interlake-Eastern health region and 10 in the Prairie Mountain health region. Three previously announced cases were removed due to data corrections for a net daily increase of 258. This is the second day this week that more than 200 new cases have been announced in the province and the five-day test positivity rate has climbed to 6.4 per cent.
One new death was reported since yesterday, the 960th person to die as a result of the virus since the pandemic began. In the north, 25 new cases were reported, including nine from the Grand Rapids/Misipawistik/Mosakahiken/Moose Lake/Easterville/Chemawawin health district, seven from the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district, and five from the Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/God’s River/God’s Lake district. There are 132 Manitobans in hospital as a result of COVID-19, including 66 with active cases, 18 of whom are in intensive care. There are also 15 people who are no longer considered infections who are still in intensive care.
There have been 13 cases of COVID-19 among people linked to schools in Thompson in the last two weeks up to April 13, not including this latest case at Wapanohk, according to provincial data online. These include nine cases at R.D. Parker Collegiate, three at Deerwood School and one at Westwood School. None of these school-linked cases involve COVID variants of concern and the virus wasn’t necessarily contracted while at school. Other Northern Manitoba COVID cases linked to schools in the last two weeks include one case at Frontier Collegiate in Cranberry Portage, six cases at three schools in Flin Flon and one case in The Pas, which is the first Northern Manitoba COVID case involving a variant of concern.
The board also approved $717,800 of provincial borrowing. Most of this amount – $586,100 – will go toward a major addition and renovation at R.D. Parker Collegiate, while $125,000 is for district fibre installation. There is also $6,700 to complete the addition of modular classrooms at Wapanohk Community School. This year’s operating expenditures are on track, with 52.6 per cent of the budget having been spent as of March 18, which was 65 per cent of the way through the school year. Seventy-two per cent of planned COVID-19 expenses have already been spent, however, and the district is currently predicting a $95,342 deficit for pandemic expenditures. “That has prompted the review of current in-year budget amounts so that we can address the deficit at this time,” said Knott. “There’s no more other surprises we’ve encountered at this point.”