WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s premier will be meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today as the province’s surging COVID-19 cases put significant pressure on the health-care system.

Brian Pallister and Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman will have private meetings with Trudeau. 

There were 603 new COVID-19 cases Thursday — a record that broke the previous high last week by 43.

In response, the Progressive Conservative government tightened restrictions for the fourth time in the past month by banning virtually all social gatherings, even outdoors.

Meanwhile, officials say all Indigenous people in Manitoba can start booking an appointment for a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on May 24. 

Dr. Marcia Anderson, who’s the public health lead for First Nations, says First Nations people have made up 40 to 60 per cent of the admissions to intensive care during the second and third waves.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2021. 

The Canadian Press