COVID-19 death toll in Manitoba continues to climb with 7 new deaths Friday

Manitoba's death count related to COVID-19 continued to rise on Friday as the province announced seven new deaths, bringing the total to 1,675.

Six of the deaths are from Winnipeg and include a woman in her 60s, a woman in her 70s, a woman in her 80s, a man in his 60s, a man in his 80s, and a man in his 90s who is linked to the outbreak at Tuxedo Villa.

The other death was a woman in her 40s from the Prairie Mountain Health region.

More details were also released about four deaths from Thursday. They include a woman in her 90s from Prairie Mountain Health, a woman in her 90s from Winnipeg, and two men from Winnipeg, one in his 70s and the one in his 80s who was connected to the outbreak at the Health Sciences Centre.

COVID-19 ICU patients also dipped slightly Friday to 29 and hospital cases also dropped to 513 patients.

The province added 313 new cases of COVID-19 and the active case count is 8,848. However, health officials continue to note that case numbers are likely higher as at home rapid tests are not counted toward the total.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate is 14.8 per cent.

Since vaccines were rolled out in the province, 86.2 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one dose, 81.9 per cent have two doses, and 43.6 per cent have received three doses.

The province also noted 59.1 per cent of children between the ages of five and 11 have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Starting next week, the province said COVID-19 bulletins will only be issued on Thursdays, with the next one coming out on March 3.