Manitoba reports lowest daily COVID-19 case count since April; 124 new cases announced

The Province of Manitoba has recorded its lowest daily COVID-19 case count since mid-April, with 124 COVID-19 cases on Monday.
The Winnipeg region reported 80 cases on Monday, with a five-day test positivity rate of 10.2 per cent. The region has a total of 1,989 active cases.
The other cases reported on Monday include:
- 19 cases in the Southern Health region, which has 331 active cases;
- 14 cases in the Northern health region, which has 280 active cases;
- Seven cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, which has 232 active cases; and
- Four cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region, which has 279 active cases.
The new cases bring Manitoba's total number of cases to 54,481, including 3,111 active cases and 50,268 recoveries.
The province has a five-day test positivity rate of 10.7 per cent.
This is the lowest daily case count since April 19, when 108 cases were reported in a single day.
"Our case numbers are heading in the right direction – our vaccination rates are climbing," said Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer.
He said the low cases are a sign the restrictions that are in place across the province are working. He said despite the lowering COVID-19 cases, the health-care system is still feeling the impact.
"We continue to see deaths related to this virus, we continue to see that strain on our health-care system – hospital admissions, especially ICU."
Roussin reported two more deaths on Monday including a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region, and a woman in her 50s from Winnipeg whose death has been linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern.
This brings the total number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Manitoba to 1,102. The province said one death reported over the weekend was removed due to a data correction.
The province said 26 Manitoba ICU patients are receiving out-of-province care, with 25 in Ontario and one in Alberta. No other COVID-19 patients were taken out of the province on Sunday.
There have been 26 patients returned to Manitoba hospitals.
Within the province, health officials said there are 271 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 60 patients in intensive care as of Monday. Most of the patients hospitalized have active cases.
"As these case numbers are declining, we are going to anticipate declining numbers in hospitalizations and ICU," Roussin said.
He said in the past few days the number of patients in ICU has stabilized, but is still at an extremely high number.
"Our data is showing that the vast majority of people being admitted to ICU are unvaccinated," Roussin said. "Not trying to cast any blame on people – there is lots of reasons why someone may not have been vaccinated as of yet."
Roussin said this shows the benefit of getting a vaccine, adding public health is not really seeing any vaccinated Manitobans admitted into the ICU.
On Monday, the province expanded eligibility for second-dose appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine.
READ MORE: Manitoba updates second-dose COVID-19 vaccine eligibility
The province said 1,667 laboratory tests were completed on Sunday. This brings the total number tests done since early February 2020 to 803,597.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Onlookers urged police to charge into Texas school
Onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, a witness said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.

Texas school shooting: What we know so far about the victims
Families are sharing photos and stories of their loved ones, who lost their lives in a mass shooting in Texas that killed at least 19 children and two adults on Tuesday afternoon.
Charest and Brown challenge Poilievre, and other notable moments from the French Conservative leadership debate
Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopefuls Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, and Pierre Poilievre squared off in the second official party debate on Wednesday night in Laval, Que.
As it happened: The 2022 French-language Conservative leadership debate
The Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopefuls debated face-to-face in French, in Laval, Que. on May 25. Recap CTV News reporters' real-time updates as the debate unfolded.
Canada's 2022 summer weather forecast predicts huge differences from coast-to-coast
Several parts of the country, including British Columbia and Canada's Maritime provinces, are likely to see wetter-than-normal conditions this summer, according to AccuWeather's annual summer forecast.
Monkeypox in Canada: PHAC now confirms 16 cases nationwide
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has now confirmed a total of 16 cases of monkeypox in the country, all in Quebec.
Canadian meets her long-lost sister for the first time on U.S. morning show
During an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, adopted siblings Hannah Raleigh of Chicago and Limia Ravart of Montreal met in person for the first time after an ancestry test confirmed the two are in fact related.
Trudeau cancelled B.C. appearance after RCMP warned protest could escalate: CP source
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled plans to appear in person at a Liberal fundraiser in British Columbia Tuesday after RCMP warned an aggressive protest outside the event could escalate if he arrived, said a source close to the decision. The source spoke to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
'How to Murder Your Husband' author found guilty of murder
A jury in Portland has convicted a self-published romance novelist - who once wrote an essay titled 'How to Murder Your Husband' - of fatally shooting her husband four years ago.