Manitoba reports more than 100 new COVID-19 cases

Manitoba is reporting more than 100 new COVID-19 infections for the first time in weeks.

According to the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard, 105 new cases were identified across Manitoba as of Wednesday morning.

The last time Manitoba saw daily case numbers in the triple digits was June 26, when 106 new cases were reported, according to records kept by Global News. The province reported 40 new cases Tuesday.

The number of COVID-19 deaths reported on the province’s website rose by one to 1,889 Wednesday.

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Health officials tell Global News 70 of the new infections reported Wednesday are in people who have not been fully vaccinated.

“Those not yet vaccinated are more like to spread the virus and to experience severe outcomes than those who are fully vaccinated,” a provincial spokesperson said in a statement.

“The behaviour of Manitobans is key to helping reduce the number of cases and ward off a fourth wave. Public health is asking people to get immunized, get tested when sick, stay home when sick and follow not only the public health orders but also the fundamentals to reduce their risk of getting sick.”

The majority of the new cases — 41 — were reported in the Southern Health region, where vaccination rates are lower than in other parts of the province.

Another 29 cases were reported in the Winnipeg Health region, 20 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region, nine were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region and six were reported out of the Northern Health region.

As of Wednesday 64 Manitobans are hospitalized and 19 patients are in intensive care units as a result of COVID-19, according to the province’s website.

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Manitoba’s five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate rose to 2.8 per cent from the 2.4 per cent reported 24 hours earlier.

There are now 412 active cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, including 158 confirmed to be variants of concern, according to provincial health data.

A provincial site tracking variants shows 40 active variant cases are the Alpha variant, 13 are the Delta variant and another 105 have yet to be specified.

Since March 2020, Manitoba has reported 58,425 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

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.