Manitoba reports 56 new COVID-19 cases, 1 additional death

Manitoba health officials are reporting 56 new COVID-19 infections and say another person with the virus has died.

The latest victim is a man in his 30s from the Southern Health region, according to a provincial release sent out Thursday.

Of the new cases, 22 were found in the Winnipeg Health region, 14 were reported in the Interlake-Eastern Health region, 13 were reported in the Southern Health region, four were found in the Northern Health region, and three were reported out of the Prairie Mountain Health region.

Officials say 1,552 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed Wednesday.

3:21 Wildfire smoke and COVID-19

The province says there are currently 537 active COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, including 285 confirmed to be variants of concern.

As of Wednesday morning the five-day test positivity rate is 3.3 per cent provincially and 2.8 per cent in Winnipeg.

Health officials say there were 105 Manitobans in hospital as a result of COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning, including 28 in ICU.

Since March 2020, Manitoba has reported 57,322 COVID-19 cases, and 1,167 Manitobans with the virus have died.

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.