Peak of Manitoba’s current COVID-19 wave may be close: chief doctor

Manitoba’s chief public health officer says the province may be close to the peak of the current COVID-19 wave.

Dr. Brent Roussin says it’s too early to be definitive, but indicators point to a possible peak in the next week or so.

The number of people in Manitoba hospitals with the virus has dropped slightly and the number of patients in intensive care has stabilized.

Roussin says wastewater samples collected in Winnipeg are down from a high in early January, but the drop has not been big and the numbers continue to fluctuate.

Meanwhile, the province is eliminating the requirement to notify close contacts of positive cases at child-care centres, similar to changes recently made at schools.

Children and staff exposed to a case will be allowed to continue to attend if they are asymptomatic.

The change is a response to the rise of the Omicron variant, Roussin said Wednesday.

“It’s so much more infectious, has such a shorter incubation period, that (single) case and contact management is just not effective.”

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