One new case of COVID-19 identified in Manitoba on Thursday

Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company’s lab, in Surrey, B.C., March 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

WINNIPEG — Health officials have announced one new case of COVID-19 in Manitoba.

The announcement was made in a media bulletin Thursday afternoon. This now brings the province's total number of lab-confirmed and probable-positive cases to 316 since early March.

The newest case is a man in his 40s in the Southern Health Region and health officials continue to investigate the case.

There are currently 15 active cases in Manitoba and 294 people have recovered. The death toll remains at seven

There were nearly 400 tests performed on Wednesday, but the province said data is still being reviewed and confirmed so an update to testing will be coming on Friday.

Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, reminded people that as Manitoba continues to reopen, we will continue to see cases.

“We know COVID hasn’t gone. We’re going to continue to see cases. We need to anticipate seeing cases, but that can’t slow our reopening plans,” he said.

He added the province will continue to isolate cases, perform contact tracing, and limit community-based transmission.

“We’re going to be watching things like our positive test rate, but we can’t be deterred by seeing cases because we certainly are going to continue to see cases for the near future,” Roussin said.

Roussin added that though some of Manitoba’s COVID-19 cases have been in the trucking industry, he’s disappointed to hear some truckers have been treated poorly.

“We’ve been hearing of truck drivers being refused service and treated adversely in other situations. We shouldn’t be stigmatizing truck drivers, we should be thanking them,” he said.

“They’ve kept our supply chains open during these difficult times. They’re taking risks to keep our supply chains moving, so we should ensure we’re not stigmatizing people.”

He highlighted the fact that whenever they announced the truck driver cases, they don’t have to note possible exposures to the public, because the truck drivers are professionals and take precautions.

- With files from CTV's Kayla Rosen