Health officials say three more Manitobans with COVID-19 have died and 86 new cases of the virus have been identified Thursday.
The latest deaths include a man in his 60s from the Northern Health region, a woman in her 70s from the Southern Health region, and a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg Health region, and all are linked to the Alpha variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, officials said.
Of the new cases, the largest number — 39 — are in the Winnipeg Health region, with another 11 cases found in the Northern Health region, 10 in Southern Health region, 10 in the Prairie Mountain region, and 16 in the Interlake-Eastern region.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate sits at 5.4 per cent provincially, and 5.2 per cent in Winnipeg.
Health officials said five previously announced cases have been removed due to data corrections, leaving Manitoba’s total number of reported cases to 56,667, of which 1,016 remain active.
Since March 2020 the deaths of 1,157 Manitobans have been connected to the virus.
As of Thursday morning, officials said there were 142 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 152 reported Wednesday.
Of those in hospital as a result of the virus, 39 are in ICU, including five receiving critical care in Ontario.
A total of 1,145 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed Wednesday, according to provincial data.
On Wednesday 71 new cases and two deaths were announced in Manitoba.
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.
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