COVID-19 hospitalizations now over 450 in Manitoba

There are now more than 450 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19.

According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, as of Wednesday, there are 454 people in hospital with COVID-19, a jump of 36 since Tuesday. Of the hospitalizations, 419 people have active cases. There are 46 people in the intensive care unit with COVID-19, including 45 people with active cases.

Shared Health confirmed as of midnight on Tuesday, there were 102 total patients in intensive care; the pre-pandemic ICU capacity was 72 patients. 

 

COVID-19 hospital and ICU admissions in Manitoba
Infogram

Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon said recent trends show only one-third of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are being hospitalized because of the virus.

"The other two-thirds are being hospitalized for another medical reason, but happen to be COVID positive," she said.

The provincial five-day test positivity rate dropped to 47.2 per cent on Wednesday, compared to 48.1 per cent on Tuesday. The province said it completed 3,538 laboratory tests on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, the province said 84.7 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 78.0 per cent have received two doses, and 31.9 per cent have received three doses.

The province said 50.6 per cent of children ages five to 11 have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The province said as of Jan. 6, people who are not fully vaccinated are four times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, 21 times as likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit, and 17 times as likely to die with COVID-19. 

Three more deaths were reported on Wednesday, including two women in their 60s and 80s, and a man in his 90s whose death has been linked to the outbreak at Prairie View Lodge. All three people were from Winnipeg. In total, 1,429 people have died with COVID-19 in Manitoba so far in this pandemic.

The province also reported 1,478 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 105,406, which includes 35,048 active cases and 68,929 recoveries.

Gordon said moving forward, the province will be putting a greater focus on system load and not new cases, which she said are substantially undercounted.