News briefs for October 21, 2020

A drone was deployed to help find a person who was in medical distress in a remote wooded part of a St. Boniface park.

The city says that around noon Wednesday, a person called 911 but was unable to pinpoint their location in Lagimodiere-Gaboury Heritage Park. When crews arrived, they searched the areas and launched the drone, using its infrared camera to find the patient.

An ATV was sent to rescue the the person in distress. The patient was taken to hospital in stable condition.

The city reminds hikers to know their exact location at all times or spot landmarks that would lead rescuers to them. It’s recommended hikers take a cellphone or walk in pairs.

Three staff and 29 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at Headingley Correctional Centre. 

An update from the provincial government indicates the outbreak at the facility has swollen to 32 cases since Monday, when chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said nine inmates and two staff had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

“All staff and inmates who may have been exposed have been placed in quarantine. There are currently 200 inmates in isolation at Headingley, but the situation changes daily as investigations are ongoing and quarantines periods expire,” a provincial spokesperson said. “Public health and correctional nurses continue to monitor these inmates daily, and if they develop symptoms, they are offered testing and managed appropriately.”

A case in a staff member at the Manitoba Youth Centre has also been identified. An outbreak at that facility has not been declared. 

Cases in staff have also been noted at Milner Ridge (2 ), the Winnipeg Remand Centre (1) and Brandon Correctional Centre (1). These cases were previously reported and no outbreaks have been declared at these facilities.

The city will hear from business owners directly impacted by the pandemic during a virtual summit on Thursday.

This year’s Mayor’s Small Business Summit is being hosted online by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and it will feature breakout sessions where participants will be connected directly to senior administrators.

Mayor Brian Bowman said the event gives city officials a chance to hear directly about issues impacting the business community.

More than 1,000 small businesses have been connected with the city through the summit during the last five years.

(This is a corrected version of this brief; a previous version incorrectly indicated city councillors were  involved.)

A speeder was travelling so fast early Tuesday morning on the Trans-Canada Highway he lost control when pulling over after being caught on radar by the RCMP.

Brandon RCMP were patrolling Hwy. 1 near Hwy. 5, when an eastbound vehicle was clocked at 167 km/h in a 100-km/h zone.

Police turned on their lights for a traffic stop, the driver of the speeding vehicle tried to make a right turn onto Hwy. 5, lost control and went into ditch, then up and over a service road, finally coming to a stop on top of a utility box in another ditch.

The 17-year-old male driver from Carberry was treated for minor injuries and then received a $927 ticket. His licence was also suspended until he meets with Manitoba Public Insurance. Two young passengers weren’t hurt.

A city committee wants to explore reducing the number of annual councillor expense audits.

Council’s governance committee ordered a report Wednesday on implementing ward allowance audits on a rotating basis, which would still require executive policy committee approval.

That could see five council members randomly selected to undergo audits each year instead of annual reviews for the expenses of every councillor, according to a previous report.

Committee members argued the change would leave plenty of scrutiny in place, since councillor expenses would still be published online and reviewed by city officials.

A second medicine unit at St. Boniface Hospital has declared an outbreak of COVID-19. 

St. Boniface Hospital said Wednesday that as of 11 a.m., there are 11 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 connected to the outbreak, which now effects the hospital’s E5 and E6 units. 

So far, five staff at the hospital have tested positive for the virus. 

Outbreak protocols are in place at the hospital and all potential contacts between Oct. 5 and 20 are being traced, the hospital noted.

It said the origin of the outbreak is still being investigated. 

St. Boniface Hospital remains open and clinics and procedures are continuing as usual. 

The preferred concept plan for the former site of Kapyong Barracks is set to be unveiled on Thursday.

Whelan Sutherland, CEO of the Treaty One Development Corp., said in a statement the plan is expected to create a development that balances economic opportunities for Treaty One First Nations but also blends in with existing area neighborhoods.

The plan for a First Nation urban economic zone was created from feedback during a public engagement process following the release of three concept plans last summer.

A New Bothwell man has been charged after two teens were robbed at knifepoint.

The teens, aged 16 and 17, were walking to a store in the community on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. when a man with a knife allegedly walked up to them and demanded money, St. Pierre-Jolys RCMP said on Wednesday.

The teens gave him all their money and ran home to tell their parents, police said.

A suspect was soon arrested and police seized the knife and clothes used during the robbery.

Bryan Doerksen, 20, has been charged with robbery, disguised with intent, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and assault with a weapon. He has been remanded into custody.

Twenty-seven workers at a poultry plant southeast of Winnipeg have contracted COVID-19, according to the employees’ union.

The outbreak is at Exceldor Co-operative (formerly known as Granny’s Poultry) in Blumenort, the largest poultry producer in Manitoba. The United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union said it is working with the company.

Workers who tested positive and have to be off work are paid via their Blue Cross coverage, but the union says there is a lack of sick pay for workers who are close contacts of positive cases.

New cases of COVID-19 hit 135 Wednesday and the province reported a 43rd death due to the disease. 

A man in his 80s who was a resident of Parkview Place died after coming down with COVID-19, the province said. 

Winnipeg reported 102 new cases, while spikes were also reported in the Southern Health-Sante Sud and Interlake Eastern regions, with 12 and 17 new cases, respectively. Four new cases were identified in the Northern health region. No cases were reported in Prairie Mountain Health. 

According to public health, there are 1,774 active cases though the number is inflated due to a backlog in reporting recoveries. The province said 1,809 people are considered recovered from COVID-19.

Canadian Union of Public Employees 204 has filed more than 50 grieveances related to personal protective equipment against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health. 

In a release sent out Wednesday, the union that represents health care support staff said there is inconsistent provision of N95 masks for employees working with COVID-19 positive patients, and in some cases face shields are no longer being provided.

The policy grievances were filed at 55 facilities in the province, including Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, Misericordia Health Centre and Golden West Centennial Lodge. The province declared outbreaks at the three facilities Tuesday. 

Grievances were also filed on behalf of home care workers, the union said. Many have still not been fitted for N95 masks, according to the union. 

The Winnipeg Police Service is investigating the city’s latest homicide.

Police were called to the 600 block of Ellice Avenue at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a report about an injured man.

Officers found a dead man upon arrival. No further information has been released.

Anyone with information about the death is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6508.

The Winnipeg Police Service is hoping to speak with two people who dropped an injured man off at Seven Oaks Hospital on Sept. 28.

A man suffering from a serious assault was taken to the hospital in the early morning hours by two other men.

Hospital staff did not get the names or contact information of the people who dropped the injured man off.

The WPS investigation continues and detectives with the major crimes unit are hoping to speak with the two men in question. They are asked to call investigators at 204-986-6219.

No one was hurt in an early morning fire in Winnipeg’s Centennial neighbourhood Wednesday.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to a fire in a vacant two-storey apartment building in the 200 block of Isabel Street around 2:30 a.m. Crews searched the building; no one was inside. They got the fire under control about an hour and a half later.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No damage estimates are available, the City of Winnipeg stated in a news release.

The Portage la Prairie bypass on the Trans-Canada Highway is closed between Highway 240 and Angle Road because of a crash.

The provincial government announced the closure at about 8:45 a.m.

No details about the crash were available.

Residents of a 21-storey residential building in downtown Winnipeg had to find another place to stay after a power outage rendered the building unsafe.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service evacuated all of the occupants starting at 7:41 p.m. Tuesday in the 0-100 block of Garry Street. Water damage in the building meant the primary and secondary power systems weren’t working, so the building had no heat or electricity and the fire alarm and sprinkler systems were out.

"These system failures led crews to deem the building temporarily unsafe for occupancy and it was evacuated," the city of Winnipeg stated in a news release.

The city’s Emergency Social Services team was helping evacuees arrange temporary living arrangements until they can safely return to the building.