Manitoba health officials are reporting the province’s first lab-confirmed case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The infected person recently travelled back to Manitoba from one of the 10 countries where federal officials have enacted stricter rules for travellers, the province said in a release Tuesday.
The person has experienced mild symptoms and provincial officials say public health is conducting “aggressive case and contact management.”
The province hasn’t said where the person in Manitoba the person is from and has not released any further information about their age or gender.
“If additional public health risks are assessed and it is deemed necessary to protect the health of others, more information will be released,” the province said in a release.
Meanwhile, health officials say another four people with COVID-19 have died and 93 more infections have been identified across the province.
The latest pandemic data posted on the province’s website Tuesday shows there are now 1,565 active COVID-19 cases in Manitoba and the province’s five-day test positivity rate is 6.4 per cent.
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The site shows Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll now sits at 1,338.
More information on the latest victims is expected in the province’s next COVID-19 media release Wednesday.
The Southern Health region saw the largest one-day jump in new cases, with 38 infections reported Tuesday.
Another 34 cases were reported in the Winnipeg Health region, four were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 11 were reported in the Northern Health region and six were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.
Health data shows 48 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, five were partially vaccinated and 40 were fully vaccinated.
The province says 2,516 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed in Manitoba Monday.
There are currently 152 Manitobans hospitalized due to COVID-19 and 32 patients in ICU as a result of the virus.
The province announced 137 new cases and one death Monday.
Since March 2020, Manitoba has now reported 68,938 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 66,035 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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