Manitoba is reporting 539 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths since Friday, led by a rise in infections found in the Winnipeg area.
In a release Monday, health officials said Winnipeg’s five-day test positivity rate has risen to 4.1 per cent, nearly double the 2.7 per cent reported in the city Friday.
Provincially, the five-day test positivity rose to 6.3 per cent Monday from 5.1 reported Friday.
The latest cases include 191 reported Saturday, 211 reported Sunday and 137 announced Monday.
The majority of Monday’s cases — 59 infections — were reported in the Winnipeg Health region.
Another 41 cases reported Wednesday come from the Southern Health region, 13 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 14 were reported in the Northern Health region and 10 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Winnipeg also saw the most new cases in the last three days, with 186 infections reported in the city since Friday.
Health data shows 70 of Monday’s cases are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, seven were partially vaccinated and 60 had been fully vaccinated.
Manitoba has now reported 1,334 deaths linked with COVID-19. The latest victims include:
- a man in his 50s from the Southern Health health region linked to an outbreak at Manitoba Developmental Centre (reported Saturday);
- a man in his 60s from the Southern Health health region linked to an outbreak at Manitoba Developmental Centre (reported Saturday);
- a woman in her 100s from the Winnipeg health region linked to an outbreak at Grace Hospital Surgery unit (reported Sunday);
- a woman in her 80s from the Southern Health health region (reported Sunday);
- a man in his 60s from the Southern Health health region (reported Sunday); and
- a man in his 70s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Monday).
Rising hospitalizations
The number of Manitobans in hospital as a result of COVID-19 climbed to 152 Monday, up from 141 reported on Friday.
There were also 34 patients in ICU with COVID-19 by mid-morning Monday — up 36 per cent from a week ago — according to a Shared Health statement sent to media later in the day.
The statement says 15 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospital over the weekend in Manitoba, and 11 were unvaccinated.
Shared Health said 30 of the patients currently in ICU are unvaccinated, including four admitted Monday.
“The vast majority of the continued pressure on our ICUs is coming from the unvaccinated population,” Shared Health said in the statement.
“This sustained surge, in addition to our ongoing challenges in consistently staffing these extra ICU beds, are impacting our ability to provide care for other Manitobans.”
The province says there were 90 patients in ICU across the province Monday morning receiving both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care.
The maximum ICU capacity in Manitoba is 104 beds, Shared Health said, adding staffing the units has been a challenge.
“Efforts to redeploy and reassign staff are being met with mixed success,” reads Shared Health’s statement.
“While we are thankful and appreciative to the many nurses who have stepped forward, others have taken measures to refuse or deny these assignments.”
On Friday the province postponed three non-emergency cardiac surgeries across the province because of staffing challenges.
Shared Health said non-emergent cardiac surgeries resumed Monday, but added it continues “to assess capacity to provide services for Manitobans needing scheduled, non-emergent, but very much necessary surgical and other non-COVID care.”
Shared Health is calling on more Manitobans to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
As of Monday 81.7 per cent of eligible Manitobans aged five and over have received at least one shot of vaccine and 77.3 pre cent have received two doses.
Meanwhile, health officials say a new outbreak has been declared at Lions Prairie Manor personal care home, Skyview unit, in Portage la Prairie.
Since March 2020, Manitoba has reported 68,845 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 65,898 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.
Comments