The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Manitoba remains unchanged from Wednesday at 17.

Of those cases, only one person has been hospitalized with mild symptoms and is in stable condition.

To protect patients, staff and the community, all Manitoba health-care facilities will soon begin implementing enhanced precautions and protocols which will involve additional visitor restrictions. Exceptions for compassionate reasons will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis.

The province has taken several additional steps to ensure acute care facilities are prepared in the event of COVID-19 patients requiring admissions by acquiring 27 additional ventilators. The machines will be put into operation at health-care facilities throughout the province. That brings the total number of ventilators in Manitoba to 266 with 16 additional machines on the way.

Also, Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg is relocating a medicine unit into an existing clinical space in the former HSC Women’s Pavilion to enable the movement of patients within the hospital campus to create a 30-bed isolation unit.

Meanwhile, the provincial government is expanding its social distancing efforts to include adults with intellectual disabilities.

Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Brent Roussin is requesting day programs through community living disability services be limited. "As soon as possible, day services will only be offered to individuals who live with family members who could lose their job if the services were not continued, are supported by home-share providers who can't provide care during daytime hours and where other arrangements are not possible and cannot be safely supported in their residence during day time hours."

Roussin says clients and their family members or care providers will receive further information as soon as possible.