WINNIPEG -- With more than 190 cases of COVID-19 and another death in Manitoba, the province has once again set a new record for the highest single-day spike since the pandemic first hit.

On Thursday, the province announced a man in his 80s had died of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths caused by the disease to 62. His death was reported in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region and is not connected to any current outbreaks.

The province also reported 193 new cases of COVID-19, which broke the record set only two days ago for the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 yet in Manitoba.

The new cases include:

  • 21 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
  • 10 cases in the Northern health region;
  • four cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
  • 19 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
  • 139 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

These new cases have pushed the province’s total number of cases to 4,894. Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, had previously predicted the province would hit 5,000 cases by the end of this week if the current trend continues.

The new cases have also pushed the five-day test positivity rate up to 7.8 per cent – the highest rate Manitoba has seen yet.

The province said there are currently 2,409 active cases in Manitoba, the majority of which are in the Winnipeg region with 1,939 active cases.

This is followed by the Interlake-Eastern health region which has 205 active cases, the Southern Health-Santé Sud region which has 162 active cases, the Northern health region which has 72 active cases, and the Prairie Mountain Health region which has 31 active cases.

While these numbers give a general overview of the active cases within Manitoba, the province has said they are not accurate due to a backlog in reporting. Roussin has previously said the number of actual active cases may be much lower.

There are 97 people in hospital, including 17 people in intensive care. The province has reported 2,423 recoveries as of Thursday.

On Wednesday, the province reported 3,375 tests were completed, bringing the total number of tests done since early February to 251,461.