Manitoba’s COVID-19 case count drops below 100, 8 more deaths reported

Manitoba health officials reported 92 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and said eight more Manitobans with the virus have died.

It’s the first time the province’s list of new daily infections has dropped below 100 since Oct. 19.

The new cases include 44 cases in the Winnipeg Health region, eight cases in the Southern Health region, 22 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, nine cases in the Northern Health region, and nine cases in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Since March Manitoba has recorded  26,540 cases of the virus, and health officials said 3,100 remained active as of Monday.

The province’s latest COVID-19 victims include:

• a woman in her 80s from the Interlake-Eastern health region;
• a man in his 50s from the Northern health region;
• a woman in her 70s from Prairie Mountain Health and linked to the outbreak at the McCreary/Alonsa Health Centre;
• a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at Southeast Personal Care Home;
• a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region;
• a man in his 80s from the Winnipeg health region;
• a woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at The Convalescent Home of Winnipeg; and
• a woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at the Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home.

The number of Manitobans with COVID-19 who have died is now 748 after health officials said a death announced Sunday  —  a Winnipeg woman in her 80s — has been removed from the list after being added due to a “data error.”

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As of Tuesday morning health officials said there are 138 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 164 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 302 hospitalizations.

There are 21 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 14 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care for a total of 35 ICU patients.

Provincial data show 1,368 tests for COVID-19 were completed Monday bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 441,905.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.1 per cent provincially and 8.4 per cent in Winnipeg.

Health officials say outbreak has been declared at St. Paul’s Personal Care Home in Dauphin.

Meanwhile, outbreaks have been declared over at the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie, Maplewood Manor in Steinbach, Maples Long Term Care Home, Parkview Place Long Term Care Home, Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, the Patient Care Unit E6 at the St. Boniface Hospital, Concordia Hospital unit N3E, Riverview and Health Science Centre unit GH4, all in Winnipeg.

On Monday Manitoba reported three additional deaths from COVID-19 and 133 new cases.

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.

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