Manitoba reports 2 COVID-19 deaths, 206 new cases

Manitoba is reporting two more COVID-19-related deaths and 206 additional cases of the virus.

The latest data comes as Manitoba’s chief public health officer is urging people to reconsider large holiday gatherings amid an expected surge in cases linked to the Omicron variant.

At a press conference Wednesday, Dr. Brent Roussin released preliminary modelling that suggests the number of new daily COVID-19 cases could rise to 1,000 cases a day by early January as the Omicron variant spreads.

So far, six lab-confirmed Omicron cases have been found in Manitoba, including one new infection reported Wednesday.

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While Roussin said there are few cases of the variant in Manitoba right now, the strain has proven very transmissible in Ontario and the United Kingdom.

“In the U.K., (it’s a) doubling time of 2.5 days,” Roussin said, noting that Delta doubled over 34 days.

Roussin again urged Manitobans to get vaccinated if they haven’t already and get a booster shot as soon as they’re eligible.

More than a third of Wednesday’s new cases — 73 infections — were found in the Southern Health region, where vaccine uptake has been lower than the rest of the province.

Another 73 cases were reported in the Winnipeg Health region, 23 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 13 were reported in the Northern Health region and 17 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Health data shows 110 of the latest cases are in people who were not fully vaccinated.

Across the province, 83.9 per cent of eligible Manitobans over the age of five have received at least one shot of vaccine, but uptake is just 62.4 per cent in the southern region, according to a provincial site tracking vaccinations.

There are now 1,779 active COVID-19 cases in Manitoba. The five-day test positivity rate is 6.2 per cent provincially and 4.4 per cent in Winnipeg.

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Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll is now 1,357. The latest victims include:

• a man in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Tuesday);
• a man in his 60s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Tuesday);
• a man in his 60s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Wednesday); and
• a man in his 70s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Wednesday).

The province says 3,171 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed in Manitoba Tuesday, when health officials announced 164 new cases and two additional deaths.

As of Wednesday morning, health official said 139 Manitobans are hospitalized due to COVID-19 and 34 patients are in ICUs as a result of the virus.

Officials say previously declared outbreaks at Country Meadow personal care home, Ecole Assiniboine in Winnipeg and Portage District General Hospital Dialysis Unit have ended.

Since March 2020, Manitoba has now reported 70,340 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 67,204 have since recovered, according to health data.

— with files from Elisha Dacey and 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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