WINNIPEG -- Another death has been linked to the B.1.1.7. variant in Manitoba, as health officials report 300 new variant cases on Friday including two more P1 variant cases.

On Friday, the province said two more people had died with COVID-19. The deaths include a man in his 50s, and a man in his 70s, both from Winnipeg. These two most recent deaths bring the COVID-19 death toll in Manitoba to 964.

Health officials said the death of the man in his 70s has been linked to the B.1.1.7. variant. In total, Manitoba has reported three deaths linked to variants.

Variant cases spiked on Friday, with 300 more cases reported, bringing the total number of variant cases in Manitoba to 1,201.

 

Among these cases were two more cases of the P1 variant, which was first identified in Brazil. There have been four P1 variant cases in Manitoba.

The majority of Manitoba's variant cases are the B.1.1.7. variant, which has 830 cases. The B.1.351 variant remains at 20 cases, and 347 cases are unspecified.

The province said 499 variant cases are considered active, while 699 have recovered.

 

181 COVID-19 CASES IDENTIFIED ON FRIDAY

Along with these deaths, the province announced 181 new COVID-19 cases and a provincial five-day test positivity rate of 6.5 per cent.

Winnipeg once again saw the majority of these cases, with 103 cases reported on Friday. Winnipeg has a five-day test positivity rate of 6.8 per cent, and has 915 active cases – the highest number of active cases in the province.

The other cases reported on Friday include:

  • 29 cases in the Northern Health region, which has 463 active cases;
  • 21 cases in the Southern Health region, which has 134 active cases;
  • 19 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, which has 125 active cases; and
  • Nine cases in the Interlake-Eastern region, which has 102 active cases.

These new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Manitoba so far to 37,069. Two cases have been removed from the total due to a data correction.

Of these total cases, the province said 1,739 people have active cases and 34,366 people have recovered.

The province said there were 144 COVID-19 patients in hospital as of Friday, including 73 active cases and 71 cases who are no longer infectious. Of the 35 COVID-19 patients in ICU, there were 21 active cases and 14 cases who are no longer infectious.

The province said 3,581 laboratory tests were completed on Thursday, bringing the total number of tests done since early February 2020 to 637,894.