Manitoba reports 79 new COVID-19 cases

Another 79 Manitobans have fallen ill with COVID-19.

The cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday bring Manitoba’s total active case count to 927 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 3.8 per cent.

According to data on the site, 52 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, seven were partially vaccinated and 20 were fully vaccinated.

The Southern Health region saw the largest one-day jump in cases, with 25 infections reported Wednesday.

1:53 Manitoba tightens COVID-19 quarantine rules for Southern Health

Another 16 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, 24 were reported in the Northern Health region and seven were found in both the Interlake-Eastern and Prairie Mountain Health regions.

The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 reported on the dashboard remained at 1,224 Wednesday.

There were 94 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Wednesday morning and 15 patients in intensive care units as a result of the virus.

Health data shows 1,995 tests for COVID-19 were performed Tuesday.

At last word 85.8 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one shot of vaccine and 82 have received two doses, the provincial site tracking vaccination efforts shows.

According to the site, 2,415 vaccinations were scheduled on Wednesday.

1:46 Northern communities taking precaution after rising COVID-19 cases

Meanwhile, a provincial site tracking variants of concern (VOC) shows 481 of Manitoba’s active cases involve the more contagious variants.

Data on the site shows the majority of Manitoba’s VOC cases — 474 infections — have yet to be specified. There are also three active Alpha cases and four active Delta infections.

Since the first variant case was discovered in Manitoba in February, the province has recorded 19,626 cases and 216 deaths have been linked to variants.

In all, Manitoba has reported 61,796 COVID-19 cases since March 2020.

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.