WINNIPEG -- Nearly 1,900 of Manitoba’s health-care workers have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began, 30 of whom tested positive in the last week of January.

According to Manitoba’s latest COVID-19 and seasonal influenza surveillance report, which covers Jan. 24 to Jan. 30, 1,875 health-care workers have gotten COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, which is 30 more cases compared to the week before.

The majority of these workers, 1,854 of them, have recovered from the disease and two people have died.

The report shows that of these nearly 1,900 workers, 58 per cent of them are Allied Health and support staff, 28.5 per cent are nurses/licensed practical nurses, 3.8 per cent are physicians or physicians in training, and 2.1 per cent are first responders. For 7.7 per cent of these workers, their occupations are not identified.

As for how they contracted the disease, nearly 60 per cent of the health-care staff got it from close contact with a known case, and 0.7 per cent got it from travel. The province is still investigating how 9.8 per cent of the health-care workers got COVID-19, while for 29.9 per cent, the source of infection is unknown.

The report also shows says that 311 pregnant Manitobans have contracted COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, which is seven more pregnant cases than the week before. 

Between Jan. 24 to 30, Manitoba reported 835 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, which is a decrease of 384 cases from the week before. 

During this week, the volume of lab tests and test positivity rate decreased as well. The report says an average of 1,740 people were tested per day, down from 1,837 the week before, and the test positivity rate dropped from 10.3 per cent to 7.7 per cent.

Of the new cases, 43 per cent were from the Northern Health Region and 30 per cent were from the Winnipeg Health Region. The Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority accounted for 12 per cent of cases, the Prairie Mountain Health Authority reported 10 per cent of the cases, and five per cent of the cases came from the Southern Health - Santé Sud Regional Health Authority.

Since the start of the pandemic, 51.9 per cent of the province’s cases were from close contact to other cases, with travel accounting for 1.2 per cent of cases. The province is still investigating the source of 23.5 per cent of cases, while for 23.3 per cent, the source of infection is unknown. The report notes that the top type of contact between close contacts is household exposure.

There were no lab-confirmed cases of influenza in Manitoba during this week.