Another Manitoban with COVID-19 has died and health officials say another 71 people have been infected with the virus.
The virus’s latest victim is a man in his 80s connected to an outbreak at the Grace Hospital unit 3 South in Winnipeg.
His death is the province’s 935th linked to COVID-19.
Wednesday’s new cases include 38 from the Winnipeg Health region, five from the Southern Health region, two reported in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 24 in the Northern Health region, and two from the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Manitoba’s total case count is now 34,122 after one case was removed from the list for what the province says is a data correction.
There are currently 1,181 active cases across the province, and 32,006 people have recovered from the virus, according to provincial health data.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 3.8 per cent provincially and 3.3 per cent in Winnipeg.
The number of variants of concern reported in Manitoba grew to 267 Wednesday, up 17 from numbers reported Tuesday. The province said four come from the Southern Health region and 13 were found in the Winnipeg Health region.
A provincial release didn’t specify exactly which strains the newly screened or sequenced cases are.
On Monday Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief public health officer, said the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, is slowly becoming the dominate strain in Manitoba.
Roussin said Manitoba is likely to see more variant cases reported each day, partly because the province’s screening is so precise, health officials won’t wait for sequencing to report them.
Manitoba’s total number of variants of concern reported now include 232 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, 20 cases of the B.1.351 strain, first identified in South Africa, and 15 cases that health officials say have not yet been categorized.
Meanwhile health official say there are now 146 people in hospital as a result of novel coronavirus and 28 patients in ICU connected to the virus.
A previously declared outbreak at at Actionmarguerite St. Boniface in Winnipeg has ended, the province says.
Laboratory testing numbers show 2,251 tests were completed Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 582,697.
Manitoba announced 77 new cases and no additional deaths from the virus on Tuesday.
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.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, visit our coronavirus page.