Health official say another two Manitobans with COVID-19 have died and 143 new cases of the virus have been identified across the province.
The cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday bring Manitoba’s active case count to 1,457 and the provincial five-day test positivity rate to 6.2 per cent.
The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 reported on the site climbed two to 1,268 Wednesday.
Meanwhile, there were 143 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Wednesday morning, up five from Tuesday, and 28 patients in intensive care units.
Manitoba has seen an increase in daily COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, driven in large part by surging numbers in the Southern Health region.
The majority of Wednesday’s new cases — 66 infections — were found in the Southern Health region.
Another 33 cases came from the Winnipeg Health region, 29 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, five were reported in the Northern Health region and 10 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Southern Health also continues to see the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates, with 57 people from the area in hospital Wednesday and 14 patients from the district admitted to ICU.
Provincial health data released Thursday showed Southern Health’s five-day test positivity rate was 14.5 per cent, nearly three times the provincial rate at the time.
Officials have so far opted not to put further health restrictions in place for Southern Health, where vaccine uptake has been considerably lower than other parts of the province.
A provincial site tracking vaccinations shows just over 68 per cent of those eligible in Southern Health have been immunized, compared to provincial numbers that show 84 per cent of eligible Manitobans have rolled up their sleeves for two shots.
More to come.
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.
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