Another four Manitobans with COVID-19 have died and officials say 147 people have been infected with the virus.
The latest infections bring Manitoba’s total active case load to 1,403 and the province’s five-day test positivity rate to 5.1 per cent.
Since March 2020, 1,328 deaths have now been linked with COVID-19.
There have now been seven COVID-19-related deaths reported in Manitoba in the last two days. They include:
- a woman in her 70s from the Southern Health health region, linked to an outbreak at Salem Home (reported Thursday);
- a man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Thursday);
- a man in his 90s from the Southern Health health region, linked to an outbreak at Third Crossing Manor (reported Thursday);
- a man in his 70s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Friday);
- a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday);
- a woman in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday); and
- a woman in her 100s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday).
The majority of Friday’s new cases — 64 infections — were found in the Southern Health region, where vaccine uptake continues to be lower than other parts of the province.
Another 46 cases come from the Winnipeg Health region, 16 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, nine were reported in the Northern Health region and 12 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
The province says 90 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, five were partially vaccinated and 52 were fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile health officials said Friday Manitoba has still not found a lab-confirmed case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, has said all positive travel-related COVID-19 cases are being sequenced for the new strain, which international officials have warned poses a “very high” risk of infection surges that could have “severe consequences” in some places.
As of Friday morning there were 141 Manitobans in hospital and 23 patients in ICU as a result of the virus.
In all, Manitoba has now reported 68,308 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 65,577 have since recovered, according to health data.
On the vaccination front officials said 2,188,316 doses have so far been given out in Manitoba, including 20,337 first doses given to children ages five to 11.
That means 81.1 per cent of eligible Manitobans aged five and up have received at least one shot and 77.2 per cent have received two, officials said.
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.