Manitoba reports 459 COVID-19 cases, 7 deaths in last 3 days

Manitoba health officials say seven people with COVID-19 have died and 459 others have been infected with the virus in the last three days.

In a release Monday, the province reported 136 new cases Monday and said 159 new cases were identified Sunday and 164 were found Saturday.

The cases bring Manitoba’s total active case count to 1,528 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 5.7 per cent.

Since March 2020, Manitoba has reported 66,826 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,292 deaths linked to the virus.

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Officials released details about 11 Manitobans with COVID-19 who have died since Friday:

• a woman in her 70s from Southern Health and linked to the Delta variant of concern (reported Friday)
• a man in his 60s from Southern Health and linked to the unspecified variant of concern (reported Friday)
• a man in his 70s from Southern Health (reported Friday)
• a woman in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the unspecified variant of concern (reported Friday)
• a man in his 80s from Southern Health and linked to the outbreak at Third Crossing Manor (reported Saturday)
• a woman in her 70s from Interlake-Eastern health region and linked to the unspecified variant of concern (reported Sunday)
• a woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the unspecified variant of concern (reported Sunday)
• a man in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at Health Sciences Centre GD4 unit and the unspecified variant of concern (reported Sunday)
• a woman in her 40s from Southern Health (reported Sunday)
• a man in his 80s from Southern Health and linked to the unspecified variant of concern (reported Monday)
• a woman in her 80s from Southern Health (reported Monday).

As has been the case for weeks, Southern Health region saw the largest one-day jump in cases Monday, with 45 infections reported.

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Another 30 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, 20 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 30 were reported in the Northern Health region and 11 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Health data shows 68 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, three were partially vaccinated and 65 were fully vaccinated.

Officials say there were 152 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Monday morning and 24 patients in intensive care units as a result of the virus.

The majority of hospitalizations — 67 patients and 15 in ICU — come from Southern Health, where vaccination rates lag behind the rest of the province.

A provincial site tracking vaccination efforts shows 87.4 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one shot, but uptake in Southern Health was at 69 per cent as of Monday.

Health data shows 2,549 tests for COVID-19 were performed Sunday.

Meanwhile, health officials announced several new outbreaks Monday.

Outbreaks have been declared at:

• Manitoba Development Centre Lawnside unit in Portage la Prairie
• Holy Family Home in Winnipeg
• Grace Hospital 4 North surgery unit in Winnipeg
• Village View Lodge assisted living in Plumas
• Country Meadow personal care home in Neepawa.

The facilities have been moved to critical, or red, on the province’s pandemic response system.

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.