Manitoba adds three new COVID-19 deaths; hospitalizations continue to drop

Manitoba saw three new deaths related to COVID-19 on Friday.

This brings the province's pandemic death total to 1,585.

The deaths are all from the Winnipeg area and include a man in his 60s, a woman in her 70s, and a man in his 80s.

Officials also provided more details surrounding the deaths announced Thursday.

Each death was also in Winnipeg and included five women in their 80s, a man in his 80s, a woman in her 70s, and a woman in her 60s linked to an outbreak at the Health Sciences Centre in unit GA4.

The province also noted that hospital numbers continue to go down, as there are now 707 hospitalizations, with 517 being active COVID cases.

There are 52 people in ICU with COVID-19; thirty-nine of those patients are still infectious.

Another 623 cases of COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the active case count to 17,423.

However, the province continues to note that all new cases announced are confirmed PCR tests and rapid tests given by health professionals. The results do not account for at-home rapid tests and therefore there are likely more cases in Manitoba.

The province's five-day test positivity rate is 26.8 per cent.

Manitoba also hit the 80 per cent mark of eligible residents who are now fully vaccinated. People with one dose sits at 85.8 per cent and 41.1 per cent of people have received a third shot.

Officials also said 57 per cent of children between the ages of five and 11 have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Winnipeg continues to lead the way with a vaccine uptake of 86.3 per cent, followed by the Interlake-Eastern Health Region at 78.6 per cent.