Manitoba sees 259 COVID-19 cases Sunday, new restrictions on northern First Nation

The province of Manitoba is logging another 258 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday and no additional deaths.

This brings the total number of deaths in the province to 967.

Today's cases include:

• six cases in the Interlake-Eastern region
• 25 cases in the Northern health region
• 25 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region
• 15 cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region
• 188 cases in the Winnipeg health region

The provincial test positivity rate has risen to 7.1 per cent and 7.6 per cent in Winnipeg after 2,995 COVID-19 tests were completed Saturday.

As of Sunday morning, 74 Manitobans remain in hospital with active COVID-19 cases while 65 are no longer infectious but still require care, totalling 139 hospitalizations.

There are also 22 people in intensive care units (ICUs) with active COVID-19 cases, and 15 people who are no longer infectious but still require care totaling 37 ICU patients.

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Public health officials and the chief and council of Chemawawin Cree Nation say they continue to see a trend of concerning case numbers in the community.

As a result, the chief and council are directing that public gatherings are no longer permitted, and community residents are required to stay at home. People are advised to only leave their residence to get a COVID-19 test or receive medical care.

Residents are also allowed to send one person from a household for essential supplies.

Anyone working in essential services in the community are still allowed to leave home for work and non-medical masks must be worn outside the home.

Public health is also warning of a possible public exposure to a variant of concern (VOC) case:

• April 16: WestJet Flight WS526: departed from Calgary at 9:50 p.m., arrived in Winnipeg at 1 a.m., affected rows one to six.

VOC cases are updated on the provinces website Tuesday through Saturday.