Manitoba reports 2 COVID-19 deaths, 59 new cases

Health officials say another two Manitobans with COVID-19 have died and 59 more infections have been identified.

The latest victims are both women in their 40s, one from the Northern Health region and the other from the Southern Health region.

Their deaths bring Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll to 937.

Thirty-two of the cases announced Thursday come from the Winnipeg Health region, three were reported in the Southern Health region, seven were identified in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 16 come from the Northern Health region, and one was found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

3:48 Answering your COVID-19 questions, April 1

Manitoba’s total case count is now 34,174 after health officials say say seven cases were removed from the list as a result of  data corrections.

Of those cases, 1,179 remain active, according to provincial data.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 3.9 per cent provincially and 3.6 per cent in Winnipeg.

Meanwhile, health officials reported three new screened or sequenced cases of variants of concern Thursday, all from the Winnipeg area.

The number of variants of concern reported in Manitoba now sits at 270, with 235 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain first identified in the United Kingdom, 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.

The number of people in hospital as a result of COVID-19 rose two, up to 148, Thursday and the number of people in ICU linked to the virus also rose by two, to 30.

A previously declared outbreak at St. Amant Health and Transition Services has ended, the province said.

Laboratory testing numbers show 1,561 tests were completed Wednesday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 584,267.

Manitoba announced 71 new cases and one additional death from the virus on Wednesday.

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.