Southern Health region sees 82% of latest Manitoba COVID-19 tickets

Manitoba handed out 23 tickets and 21 warnings last weekas part of its ongoing enforcement of public health orders around COVID-19, with the majority inthe Southern Health region.

One of the 23 tickets was a $1,296fine given to an individual,the province said inWednesday's COVID-19 bulletin. It did notstate what the fine was for.

The other 22, each worth $298, went to individuals for failingto wear a mask in an indoor public place.

Broken down byhealth region, there were19 tickets issued in Southern Health, two in Winnipeg and two in Prairie Mountain. None were issued in the Northern HealthorInterlake-Eastern regions.

The province did not reveal where the more expensive individual fine was issued.

Southern Health is the region with the province's lowest vaccination rates and has seen several protests against the public health orders.

The rural municipality of Stanley, which surrounds the cities of Winkler and Morden, continues to have the worst vaccine uptake. As of Wednesday, 23.8 per cent of eligible residents aged five and older had a first vaccine dose.

The city of Winkler is slightly better at43.6, while nearbyAltona is51.9 and Hanover is50.8 per cent. Morden's vaccination uptake is 68.8 per cent.

Many other southern municipalities range from 55-75 per cent uptake, though there are a few exceptions in the 80s.

The provincialaverage is 84.6 per cent of eligible people with a first dose, according toManitoba's vaccine dashboard.

The province has given out 2,391 tickets worth a total of $3,357,347since enforcement efforts began in April 2020. Of that amount, only $349,578 just over 10 per cent has been collected.

The province urges Manitobansto report non-compliance through the online COVID-19 tip form or by calling 204-945-3744 or 1-866-626-4862. Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly.

Due to the Christmas holiday there will be no enforcement data in next week's Wednesday bulletin, the province said.

Those updates will resume on Jan. 5, 2022.