Manitoba reports 130 new COVID-19 cases

Manitoba is reporting 130 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths connected to the virus.

The cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Friday bring Manitoba’s active case count to 954 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 3.3 per cent.

A running total of deaths listed on the site remained at 1,235.

The Southern Health and Winnipeg Health regions saw the province’s largest one-day jump in cases, with 43 reported in the south and 37 reported in the Winnipeg district.

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Another 27 cases come from the Northern Health region, 15 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region and eight were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Health officials say 89 of the new cases are in people who hadn’t been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital as a result of COVID-19 remains at 20 with 17 patients in intensive care with the virus.

A provincial site tracking variants shows 564 of Manitoba’s 954 active COVID-19 cases are more contagious variants of concern.

Of the active variant cases, data on the site shows two are the Alpha strain, one is a Delta infection and 564 are listed as “unspecified.”

In all, Manitoba has now reported 62,588 COVID-19 cases since March 2020.

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Health data shows 2,630 tests for COVID-19 were performed Thursday.

A provincial site tracking vaccination efforts shows 86.5 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one shot of vaccine and 83 have received two doses.

Another 1,520 vaccination appointments were scheduled Friday, according to the site.

Manitoba reported 92 new COVID-19 cases and no deaths Thursday.

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.