Almost one third of Manitoba's 147 new COVID-19 cases announced Friday are in fully vaccinated residents: province

The province has reported four deaths linked to COVID-19, along with 147 new cases of the virus.

In a COVID-19 bulletin released Friday, provincial health officials said the four deaths include a man in his 70s from the Prairie Mountain Health region, along with a man in his 70s a woman in her 80s, and a woman in her 100s, all from Winnipeg.

Three deaths that were previously reported on Thursday include a woman in her 70s whose death has been linked to the outbreak at Salem Home and a man in his 90s whose death has been linked to an outbreak at Third Crossing Manor – both from the Southern Health region – and a man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region.

The province said these deaths bring the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Manitoba to 1,328.

Of the 147 cases identified Friday, the province said 90 are unvaccinated, 52 are fully vaccinated and five are partially vaccinated.

TEST POSITIVITY RATE IN SOUTHERN HEALTH FAR ABOVE PROVINCIAL RATE

On Friday, the province also released the provincial vaccination rates which include children five years old and up.

As of Friday, the province says 81 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one dose, and 77.2 per cent have received two doses.

The Southern Health region has the lowest percentage of vaccination rates, sitting at 60.2 per cent. The region also reported the highest number of cases on Friday – with 64 new cases identified in the region as of Friday. Of those cases, the province said 53 are not fully vaccinated.

As of December 1, the region reported a five-day test positivity of 15 per cent. Since mid-November, the region has seen test positivity rates reach 17.6 per cent. This is far above the provincial five-day test positivity rate, which was sitting at 5.1 per cent as of Friday.

The Winnipeg health region reported a five-day test positivity rate of 2.7 per cent

The remaining cases reported on Friday include:

• 12 cases (including six not fully vaccinated) in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
• Nine cases (including five not fully vaccinated) in the Northern health region;
• 16 cases (including three not fully vaccinated) in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• 46 cases (including 28 not fully vaccinated) in the Winnipeg health region

The new cases bring Manitoba's total to 68,308, which includes 1,403 active cases and 65,577 recoveries. Ten cases were removed from the total due to a data correction.

No cases of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant have been identified in Manitoba, though the province said it continues to sequence all positive travel-related specimens.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

The province said as of Friday, there are 141 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19 including 23 people in ICU.

Of those people in hospital, the province said 88 have active cases – among them, 48 are unvaccinated, 35 are fully vaccinated, and five are partially vaccinated.

Seven of the people in ICU are no longer infectious but still require care, while 16 people still have active cases – this includes 14 who are unvaccinated and two who are fully vaccinated.