Manitoba reports three additional COVID-19 deaths over the long weekend

Health officials reported three more deaths due to the COVID-19 virus Tuesday, which includes deaths reported over the weekend.

The latest victims are two males in their 60s from the Winnipeg health region and one male in his 80s from the Southern Health region, officials said in a release.

Two of the deaths were connected to an unspecified variant and the other was due to the Alpha variant.

Testing has identified another 101 new cases of the virus since July 30.

The latest cases include 27 on July 31, 34 on Aug. 1, 18 on Aug. 2, and 22 on Aug. 3.

This brings the total number of cases in Manitoba to 57,691 with 1,181 confirmed deaths.

Health officials say 1,345 lab tests were completed on Aug. 2,  bringing the total number of tests completed in the province to 878,040.

The current five-day test positivity rate is 2.6 per cent provincially and 1.9 per cent in Winnipeg.

There are currently 528 active cases in Manitoba with 95 of those resulting in hospitalization with 35 people who are infectious and 60 people who are no longer infectious.

Additionally, a total of 19 Manitoba patients are receiving intensive care, six of whom are contagious and 13 who are no longer transmissible but still require critical care.

Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin say the province has administered a total of 1.8 million vaccine doses — well on our way to hit the target of 75 per cent.

Leader of the vaccine task force Joss Reimer says kids under the age of 12 could expect to be vaccinated in October at the earliest.

The children’s vaccine roll-out plan has not been finalized yet but it could involve school-administered doses.

“Certainly vaccines in schools is one of the measures that we are looking very seriously at because it’s something that not only takes advantage of the fact that children are all in the same location but also it is something people are familiar with and comfortable with because we’ve done it for so many years.”

Reimer adds the need for vaccination super-sites will be reviewed to determine if hours can be reduced or if locations can be closed altogether. Despite concerns across Canada, the task force isn’t worried about Moderna shots expiring in Manitoba since they are good until October.

0:52 Manitoba further loosening COVID-19 restrictions as vaccination targets surpassed, masks no longer required indoors: Pallister

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.