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

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

One of the 23 tickets was a $1,296 fine given to an individual, the province said in Wednesday's COVID-19 bulletin. It did not state what the fine was for. 

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

Broken down by health region, there were 19 tickets issued in Southern Health, two in Winnipeg and two in Prairie Mountain. None were issued in the Northern Health or Interlake-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 at 43.6, while nearby Altona is 51.9 and Hanover is 50.8 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 provincial average is 84.6 per cent of eligible people with a first dose, according to Manitoba's vaccine dashboard.

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

The province urges Manitobans to 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.