Manitoba health officials reported 329 additional active COVID-19 cases and no new deaths Tuesday.
As has been the case for weeks, the majority of the new cases — 235 — come from the Winnipeg area, where the five-day test positivity rate rose to 14.2 per cent as of Tuesday morning.
Thirty-four more cases were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 28 were reported in the Southern Health region, 24 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region and eight cases were reported in the Northern Health region.
One previously announced case was removed from Manitoba’s case count, leaving the province’s total number of cases reported since March 2020 at 42,779. Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 997.
The five-day test positivity rate currently sits at 12 per cent provincially and health data shows 3,837 cases remain active across Manitoba.
Hospitalization rates dipped slightly Tuesday.
Provincial data shows there are 214 people in hospital as a result of COVID-19, down from 215 Monday, and 59 patients in critical care connected to the virus, down one from the day before.
A spokesperson from Shared Health told Global News there were a total of 111 patients in ICUs across the province, including those connected to COVID-19.
The spokesperson said 13 of the COVID-19 patients currently in ICUs are under the age of 40.
Meanwhile, the number COVID-19 variants of concern confirmed in Manitoba rose to 4,611 Tuesday, according to a provincial website tracking the more contagious strains.
Manitoba’s variant of concern numbers are updated Tuesday through Saturday.
According to the site, 1,810 variant cases remain active, including 641 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, first identified in the United Kingdom, nine cases of the P.1 variant, first identified in Brazil, and 1,160 listed as unspecified.
Since the first B.1.1.7 variant case was reported in Manitoba in February, 24 deaths have been linked to the strain.
In all, Manitoba has reported 2,419 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 21 cases of the B.1.351 variant (all since recovered), 36 cases of the P.1 variant, and 2,135 that are as of yet unspecified.
Laboratory testing numbers show 2,920 tests were completed Monday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 701,643.
Manitoba announced 502 new cases and four additional deaths from the virus on Monday.
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