WINNIPEG -- More than 80 of Manitoba’s healthcare workers tested positive for COVID-19, in the same week the province reported 19 more outbreaks of the disease, according to provincial data.
According to the province’s surveillance data from Nov. 1 to Nov. 7, a total of 403 healthcare workers have contracted the disease since the beginning of the pandemic, which is an increase of 83 from the week before.
Of these healthcare workers, 227 are allied health and support staff, 120 are nurses/licensed practical nurses and 21 are physicians or physicians in training.
The majority of these workers, 70.7 per cent, contracted COVID-19 through close contact with a known case, while 3.4 per cent got it from travel, and for the rest of the cases, the source is unknown.
The province noted that 185 of the healthcare workers have recovered.
Manitoba also reported 19 new COVID-19 outbreaks during this same week, 12 of which were at long-term care facilities. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 75 outbreaks across the province.
Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7, there were 2,056 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, which is 271 more than the week prior.
The volume of lab tests increased as well to 3,942 people a day, and the test positivity rate climbed to 9.3 per cent.
Most of this week’s cases, 63 per cent, were from Winnipeg Regional Health, with 19 per cent from the Southern Health - Santé Sud Regional Health Authority. The province reported that seven per cent of cases were from the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, another seven per cent was from the Northern Health Region and three per cent was from the Prairie Mountain Health Region.
The Manitoba government is also reporting that since March, 52.3 per cent of the province’s cases are from close contact to other cases and 3.1 per cent was contracted through travel. For 21.4 per cent of cases, the source of infection is unknown, and the province is still investigating 23.2 per cent.
