Manitoba reports highest fourth wave daily COVID-19 case count for 2nd day in a row

Manitoba is reporting its highest one-day jump in new COVID-19 cases in the fourth wave, for the second straight day.

Health officials announced 239 new cases Friday after 218 new infections were reported Thursday.

It’s the fifth time daily cases have climbed over 200 this month, and the highest one-day jump since mid-June.

Officials also said two new cases of the Omicron variant have been identified in Manitoba, bringing the province’s total number of Omicron cases to eight.

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There are now 1,799 active cases across Manitoba and the province’s five-day test positivity rate is 6.5 per cent.

Health officials also reported another death linked with COVID-19 Friday and released details of two deaths announced Thursday.

The latest victims include:

• a man in his 30s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Thursday);
• a woman in her 50s from the Northern health region (reported Thursday); and
• a man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Friday).

Manitoba’s COVID-19 death toll now sits at 1,360.

The majority of Friday’s new cases — 108 infections — were found in the  Winnipeg Health region.

Another 71 cases were reported in the Southern Health region, 34 were found in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 16 were reported in the Northern Health region and 10 were found in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Health data shows 74 of Manitoba’s latest infections are among people who had yet to be vaccinated, while 18 were partially vaccinated and 147 were fully vaccinated.

Health officials said 139 Manitobans are hospitalized due to COVID-19 and 33 patients are in ICUs as a result of the virus.

Of the patients in hospital with COVID-19, 58 per cent are unvaccinated, while 88 per cent of those in the ICU haven’t had COVID shots, the province said.

Meanwhile, officials say new outbreaks have been declared at a Grade 5/6 cohort class at Meadows School in Brandon and Grade 6B class at Faith Academy Middle School In Winnipeg.

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A previously announced outbreak at Third Crossing Manor personal care home has ended, the province says.

According to a provincial site tracking vaccinations, 84.2 per cent of eligible Manitobans aged five and up have received one dose of vaccine and 78.1 per cent have received two shots. Of those eligible for a third dose, 12.4 per cent have gotten the booster.

The province says 3,553 lab tests for COVID-19 were completed in Manitoba on Thursday.

Since March 2020, Manitoba has now reported 70,785 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 67,626 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.