Manitoba health officials say another three people with COVID-19 have died and 147 new infections have been found across the province.
The cases reported on the province’s online COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday bring Manitoba’s total active case count to 1,537 including 570 confirmed to be variants of concern.
The number of deaths reported on the site climbed three to 1,299. Details of the latest deaths will be reported in the province’s next COVID-19 update.
Provincial data shows there were 2,710 tests for COVID-19 done Tuesday, when officials reported 129 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths.
Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate now sits at 5.9 per cent.
Health data shows 79 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, four were partially vaccinated and 64 were fully vaccinated.
The Southern Health region saw the largest one-day jump in cases Wednesday, with 71 infections reported.
Another 33 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, 23 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 12 were reported in the Northern Health region and eights found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Officials say there were 153 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reported as of Wednesday morning and 22 patients in intensive care units as a result of the virus.
Since March 2020 Manitoba has reported 67,092 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those 64,256 have since recovered, according to health data.
The province opened up vaccine eligibility for kids aged five-11 Monday and officials say the first doses began to be administered Wednesday — a day ahead of schedule.
Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead with the province’s vaccine implementation group, said Wednesday there are enough vaccines to provide a first dose to all 125,000 children in the five-to-11 age group.
The shots will be administered at regional vaccine clinics, physician clinics, urban Indigenous clinics, pharmacies and pop-up community clinics and will be available in some schools in the coming days and weeks.
At last word more than 22,000 appointments had been so far been scheduled for the age group.
–With files from The Canadian Press
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.
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