The death of a fourth Manitoban has been linked to a more contagious COVID-19 variant of concern.
Health officials said Monday the province’s latest victim of the virus, a woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg Health region, had been infected with the B.1.1.7 strain, first identified in the United Kingdom.
She is the 968th Manitoban with COVID-19 to die since March 2020.
The latest data provided on an online provincial portal tracking variants of concern shows 1,309 cases have been identified since February and 558 remain active.
The data was was last updated Saturday, though, and the province has said the numbers won’t be updated again until Tuesday.
The province also announced 210 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified across the province as of Monday morning.
Of the new cases, the majority — 157 — are in the Winnipeg Health region, with 15 in the Northern Health region, seven in the Southern Health region, 19 in the Prairie Mountain and 12 in the Interlake-Eastern region.
Manitoba has now recorded 37,808 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 7.6 per cent provincially and 8.2 per cent in Winnipeg.
Provincial data also shows there are 2,093 active cases and 34,747 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.
Health officials warned Monday of a possible exposure to COVID-19 on a recent flight into Winnipeg.
They say WestJet Flight WS526 left Calgary at 9:50 p.m. April 16 and arrived in Winnipeg at 1 a.m. The affected rows are one through six, the province said.
Anyone who was on the flight who is now experiencing symptoms should seek testing. More information on potential exposures to the virus can be found on the province’s website.
There are now 148 people in hospital as a result of the novel coronavirus and 37 patients in intensive care connected to the virus, according to provincial data.
Laboratory testing numbers show 2,784 tests were completed Sunday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 646,981.
Manitoba announced 259 new cases and no additional deaths from the virus Sunday.
Manitoba has seen its COVID-19 numbers rise in recent weeks and the government is scheduled to announce stricter public health measures later Monday.
The number of infections in Manitoba has risen from double-digits earlier in the spring to a daily average of 206 over the last week.
Manitoba’s chief public health officer warned last week the province was likely looking at some type of lockdown.
–With files from The Canadian Press
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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