Manitoba reports 130 new COVID-19 cases, 3 additional deaths

Health officials in Manitoba say another three people COVID-19 have died and 130 new infections have been found across the province.

The latest cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday bring the number of active infections in Manitoba to 1,121 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 4.2 per cent.

The site shows Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll up three from Tuesday to 1,240. Details on the latest deaths will come in the province’s next COVID-19 press release, expected Thursday.

The majority of the new cases — 60 infections — were reported in the Northern Health region. Officials say the influx of cases are linked to a recent event held in Thompson.

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Another 33 infections were reported in the Southern Health region. 25 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, nine were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, and three new cases were reported in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Manitoba has now reported 63,099 COVID-19 cases since March 2020.

According to data on the site, 78 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, seven were partially vaccinated and 45 were fully vaccinated.

There were 83 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Wednesday morning, up five from Tuesday, and 22 patients in intensive care units, five more than reported the day before.

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Meanwhile, a provincial site tracking variants shows Manitoba currently has 598 active variant cases, including two active Alpha cases, 31 active Delta infections, and 565 unspecified cases.

Since the first variant cases were found in Manitoba in mid-February the province has reported 20,582 cases and 232 deaths linked to the more contagious strains.

Health data shows 3,025 tests for COVID-19 were performed Tuesday.

Manitoba reported 73 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.

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.