COVID-19 hospitalizations drop in Manitoba, three more deaths reported Wednesday
Manitoba's top doctor says hospitalization rates remain high but are stable – though it is too early to tell where the province is in the pandemic's current wave.
The total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped on Wednesday. According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, there were 720 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday – down from 729 hospitalizations on Tuesday.
Of the total hospitalizations, 655 people have active cases. The province is reporting 49 COVID-19 patients are in the intensive care unit, including 44 who have active cases.
"At this point, we do see that hospitalization rates are high, although stable. The same goes for ICU admissions at this point," said Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer.
"It is still early to describe where definitively we are in this wave. We do know for sure that the virus is very much present in our communities and circulating."
As of Wednesday, the province said 85.5 per cent of eligible Manitobans had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 79.0 per cent have two doses and 39.0 per cent have three doses.
"Currently, children in the five to 11 age group are lagging a bit behind in their uptake of the vaccine so far and are only beginning to get their second doses," said Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine implementation task force.
As of Wednesday, the province said 55.2 per cent of that age group has received their first dose.
Reimer said children aged five to 11 are eligible for a second dose eight weeks after the first dose unless they live in a First Nation community, in which case they must wait three weeks after the first dose.
THREE MORE COVID-19 DEATHS REPORTED IN MANITOBA
Three more COVID-19 deaths were added on Wednesday, including the deaths of a woman in her 90s and a man in his 70s from Winnipeg, and a woman in her 90s from the Interlake-Eastern health region linked to an outbreak at the Betel Home personal care home.
The deaths reported on Tuesday include two men and a woman in their 70s and two men in their 80s, all from Southern Health-Santé Sud, and two men in their 50s and 60s from Winnipeg.
These most recent deaths bring the total to 1,524.
The province completed 2,194 laboratory tests on Tuesday, with the five-day test positivity rate now at 32.4 per cent.
The province reported 637 new COVID-19 cases, though health officials said the number of daily reported cases is an undercount as many positive results from rapid antigen tests taken at home are not included.
"We are continuing to see a significant amount of spread of COVID-19 in the community," Roussin said.
The total number of reported COVID-19 cases in Manitoba is 117,395, which includes 39,933 active cases and 75,938 recoveries.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.