Manitoba health officials are reporting 172 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths linked with the virus.
The deaths bring Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,324.
The latest pandemic data was posted on the province’s website Thursday. Further details are expected in a press release Friday.
The majority of Thursday’s new cases — 65 infections — were found in the Southern Health region, which has seen the largest numbers of new cases for weeks.
Another 48 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, 14 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 27 were reported in the Northern Health region and 18 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
There are currently 1,356 active COVID-19 cases across Manitoba.
The provincial five-day test positivity rate is 5.1 per cent, but regional data released Thursday shows the five-day test positivity rate continues to be much higher in the Southern Health district.
The five-day test positivity rate was 15 per cent in the southern district Wednesday but, in the past two weeks, had climbed to as high as 17.6 per cent Nov. 22.
By comparison, Winnipeg’s five-day test positivity rate was 2.7 per cent Wednesday and the second-highest rate was 6.6 per cent in the Interlake-Eastern Health Authority.
The south, which has lower vaccine uptake than the rest of the province, also represents more than a third of the 147 COVID-19 patients in Manitoba hospitals and more than half of the 24 people in intensive care units as a result of the virus.
Health data shows 89 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, nine were partially vaccinated and 74 were fully vaccinated.
The province says 3,334 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed in Manitoba Thursday.
The province announced 124 new cases and two deaths Wednesday.
Since March 2020, Manitoba has now reported 68,166 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 65,486 have since recovered, according to health data.
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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