WINNIPEG -- Health officials in Manitoba announced 15 new deaths linked to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

This pushes the death toll to 523 since the start of the pandemic.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said of the new deaths, 10 are from the Winnipeg area.

The list includes:

  • A man in his 40s;
  • A woman in her 50s linked to the Concordia Hospital unit in unit N3W;
  • A man in his 60s;
  • A woman in her 70s connected to the Charleswood Care Centre;
  • A man and a woman in their 70s, both from the St. Norbert Personal Care Home;
  • A woman in her 80s from the Park Manor Care Home outbreak;
  • Two men in their 90s; one from the Park Manor Care Home outbreak; and
  • A woman in her 100s who was also linked to the Park Manor outbreak.

The other deaths include two from the Interlake-Eastern Health Region; a woman in her 40s from the Kin Place outbreak and a man in his 50s.

Two are from the Prairie Mountain Health Region; a man in his 70s from the Fairview Home outbreak, and a man in his 80s from the Swan Valley Health Centre outbreak.

The last death happened in the Southern Health Region and is a man in his 80s not linked to an outbreak.

Manitoba also added 292 new cases, bringing the total to 21,826 since early March.

Officials did note one case was removed due to a data error.

Of the new cases, 158 were from the Winnipeg area, 47 from the Northern Health Region, 35 from the Prairie Mountain Health Region; 28 from the Southern Health Region and 24 from the Interlake-Eastern Health Region

The five-day test positivity rate is 13.6 per cent in Manitoba and 13.7 per cent in Winnipeg.

Right now in Manitoba, 5,797 cases are active and 15,506 people have recovered.

There are 328 people in hospital with COVID-19, 46 of which are in intensive care.

On Tuesday, 2,399 tests were performed, bringing the total to 394,501 since early February.

When it comes to testing in the province, Roussin said the turnaround times have improved quite a bit in labs compared to earlier in the year.

"So, the time it takes to run a test at the lab is 20 hours, worth about 2,400 tests," said Roussin.

He noted back in October the median turnaround time was 65 hours for 2,600 tests.

"At this time, most Manitobans (are) receiving their test results within 48 hours of when the sample was taken with many results being available in 27 hours or even less."

Roussin thanked all the work people at testing sites and lab technicians are putting in to make the turnaround time as quick as possible.

He also continued to encourage Manitobans to get tested, even if they have mild symptoms.