Manitoba reports 141 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths

Manitoba health officials are reporting two more deaths connected to COVID-19 and 141 new cases of the virus.

The latest cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday bring the number of active infections in Manitoba to 1,217 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 3.9 per cent.

The site shows Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll rose by two from Thursday to 1,242. Details on the latest deaths will come in the province’s next COVID-19 press release, expected Monday.

More than half of the latest cases — 83 infections — were reported in the Southern Health region, where vaccination uptake has been lower than in the rest of the province.

0:49 Winnipeg zoo looking into COVID-19 vaccine for susceptible animals

Another 19 infections were reported in the Northern Health region, 22 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, nine were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, and eight new cases were reported in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

According to data on the site, 97 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, seven were partially vaccinated and 37 were fully vaccinated.

There were 85 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Friday morning, up two from Thursday, and 25 patients in intensive care units, one more than reported the day before.

Meanwhile, a provincial site tracking variants shows Manitoba currently has 640 active variant cases, including two active Alpha cases, 28 active Delta infections, and 610 unspecified cases.

0:47 Manitoba’s COVID-19/vaccine numbers

Since the first variant cases were first found in Manitoba in mid-February the province has reported 20,728 cases and 237 deaths linked to the more contagious strains.

In all, Manitoba has now reported 63,353 COVID-19 cases since March 2020.

Health data shows 3,022 tests for COVID-19 were performed Thursday.

Manitoba reported 116 new COVID-19 cases and four 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.