Manitoba reports 3 COVID-19 deaths, 86 new cases

Health officials say another three Manitobans with COVID-19 have died and 86 more people have been infected with the virus.

The province’s latest victims include a woman in her 50s from the Prairie Mountain Health region, a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg area and a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region.

The number of Manitobans with the novel coronavirus who have died now sits at 954.

Of the new infections reported Wednesday, 53 are from the Winnipeg Health region, five were reported in the Southern Health region, five were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 16 were reported in the Northern Health region and seven were identified in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

3:36 Public health messaging and COVID-19

Health officials said six previously reported cases have been removed due to data corrections, leaving Manitoba’s total number of cases at 35,539.

There are 1,439 active cases in Manitoba and 33,146 people are listed as recovered, according to provincial data.

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Meanwhile, the province’s total number of confirmed variant of concern cases rose from 479 reported Tuesday to 560 on Wednesday.

According to data found on the province’s website, 488 of the variants of concern are the B.1.1.7 strain first reported in the United Kingdom, 20 are the B.1.351 variant first found in South Africa and 50 are as yet unspecified.

A total of 225 of the variant cases remain active and so far two deaths have been attributed to variants, according to health officials.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.3 per cent provincially and 5.2 per cent in Winnipeg.

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There are now 142 people in hospital as a result of novel coronavirus and 37 patients in intensive care connected to the virus, provincial data shows.

Health officials said Wednesday that a previously declared outbreak at Riverview Health Centre has ended.

Laboratory testing numbers show 2,436 tests were completed Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since February 2020 to 610,799

Manitoba announced 135 new cases and two 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.