Health officials in Manitoba say the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant of concern has become so prevalent in the southern part of the province, those who test positive for the strain in the area will no longer be told their illness is connected to the more-contagious variant of the virus.
Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s deputy chief provincial public health officer, said Friday variants of concern currently account for roughly half of all new cases reported in Manitoba, with the majority coming from southern Manitoba.
The vast majority of the province’s variant cases are the B.1.1.7 strain, first identified in the United Kingdom.
As a result, he says public health is now working under the assumption all new cases are a variant of concern (VOC).
“Until now public health officials have notified cases if their cases screen, or sequence as positive for a variant of concern — this triggered a more detailed case investigation — to see if cases could remember any additional information,” he explained.
“However … with case counts counts rising, and the proportion of VOC cases increase, public health needs to focus its resources on first-case investigations to get as much information as possible, as soon as possible.”
Atwal added those who test positive for the B.1.17 strain in Northern Manitoba, or other areas where it’s not as prominent, may still be notified.
He said public health officials will continue to notify those who test positive for the B.1.351 variant first found in South Africa, as well as the P.1 variant, first identified in Brazil.
The change comes as the province announced 195 new variant of concern cases and another death connected to a Friday.
Get weekly health news
The latest victim is a woman in her 70s from the Winnipeg Health region, who Atwal said had been infected with the B.1.1.7 variant.
Her death is the 974th COVID-19-related death reported in Manitoba since March 2020, and the seventh linked to a variant of concern.
Data on a provincial portal tracking variants shows 1,590 of the Manitoba’s 2,095 confirmed variant cases have come from the Winnipeg Health region.
Manitoba has so far recorded 1,312 confirmed B.1.1.7 cases, 20 B.1.351 cases, and nine P.1 infections. According to provincial data 754 variant of concern cases are as of yet unspecified.
Meanwhile, Atwal said health officials have identified another 295 new cases of COVID-19 as of Friday morning, the highest daily case count reported in Manitoba since early January.
Manitoba’s total number of lab-confirmed cases rises to 38,729 after five previously announced cases were removed due to a data correction.
The majority of new cases continue to come from Winnipeg, where 187 were reported Friday. There were another 50 reported in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 29 reported in the Southern Health region, 17 found in the Northern Health region, and 12 reported in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Provincial health data shows there are currently 2,375 active cases across the province, including 830 that are variants of concern.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 7.2 per cent provincially and 8.2 per cent in Winnipeg.
There are now 149 people in hospital as a result of novel coronavirus and 39 patients in ICU connected to the virus, according to provincial data.
Laboratory testing numbers show 3,526 tests were completed Thursday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 660,625.
Manitoba reported two deaths connected to the virus and 230 new cases Thursday.
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.
Comments