COVID-19 hospitalizations up by 11 on Wednesday, 12 more deaths in Manitoba

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continues to increase in Manitoba, as public health reports another 12 COVID-19 deaths.

According to the Manitoba COVID-19 dashboard, hospitalizations increased to 631 on Wednesday – a jump of 11 compared to the 620 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Of the total COVID-19 hospitalizations, 601 have active cases. There are 50 people in the intensive care unit with COVID-19; all but one have active cases.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said unvaccinated people are three times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, 11 times as likely to be admitted to ICU and 10 times as likely to die with COVID-19, according to trends for the week ending Jan. 13.

"It is quite clear that vaccines still provide a tremendous benefit to Manitobans and I encourage all Manitobans to get whatever dose you are eligible for as soon as possible," he said.

As of Wednesday, 85.1 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one dose, 78.3 per cent have received two doses, and 36.5 per cent have received three doses.

The province said it is delivering the second round of vaccines to children ages five to 11 this week. Children should wait eight weeks after their first dose before getting a second dose. As of Wednesday, 53.3 per cent of the age group had received the first dose.

The province reported the COVID-19 deaths of 12 more people on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,478.

The deaths include a man in his 40s, two women in their 60s, a man in his 70s, and three men and three women in their 80s – all from Winnipeg. The deaths of two men in their 70s,-one from Southern Health-Santé Sud and one from the Prairie Mountain Health region - were also reported.

The province completed 3,047 laboratory tests on Tuesday. The five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is now 33.1 per cent.

There were 919 new COVID-19 cases identified as of Wednesday, bringing the total to 112,346 reported cases so far in the pandemic. There are 41,708 reported active cases and 69,160 recoveries.

"We know that the reported number of cases is a vast underestimate," Roussin said. "(It is) hard to know the precise number there. What we can say for sure is the actual number of COVID cases is much higher than the 919 that we reported."

He said the lower case count is due to the change in Manitoba's testing strategy. He said the majority of cases among people who test positive using a rapid test at home are not reported to public health and so they are not included in the reported daily case counts.

The province said only people who are symptomatic or have been told by public health to get tested should visit a COVID-19 provincial testing site. Roussin said anyone who is not eligible will be turned away.

More information about COVID-19 testing eligibility can be found online.