Manitoba's top doctor suggests province in early fourth wave due to rising cases in southern Manitoba

WINNIPEG -

Three more people in Manitoba have died with COVID-19 as the province reports 41 new COVID-19 cases – the majority of which are among the unvaccinated.

On Monday, the province reported the deaths of two women in their 70s from the Interlake-Eastern health region, and a woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg health region whose death was linked to the Delta variant (B.1.617.2).

The total number of deaths in Manitoba is now 1,202.

Along with the deaths, the province reported 41 cases. Of these cases, 30 are unvaccinated, two are partially vaccinated and nine are full vaccinated.

Of the new cases, 21 cases are from Southern Health, 12 are from Winnipeg, five in the Prairie Mountain Health Region, two in the Northern Health Region and one from the Interlake-Eastern Health Region.

This brings the total number of cases in Manitoba to 59,368, including 569 active cases and 57,597 recoveries. Eight cases have been removed from the total due to a data correction.

The five-day test positivity rate is 3.2 per cent in the province and 1.6 per cent in Winnipeg.

There are currently 69 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19, 29 of which have active COVID. There are also 14 people in ICU, seven with active COVID.

On Sunday, 1,739 tests were completed, pushing the total to 951,975 since February 2020.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said if the current COVID-19 trend continues in Manitoba, there is a possibility the province could end up like other provinces to the west, large case numbers and a significant strain on the health-care system.

"We are seeing transmission occurring. We're still seeing those case numbers, we're still seeing people being admitted to ICU, again almost entirely unvaccinated people," said Roussin.

He added transmission is also climbing in certain areas of the province, like the Southern Health Region.

"Higher test positivity in that region, and ICU admissions from there. We're following those case numbers quite closely and if transmission continues along this way, then we could be at risk of looking like our neighbours to the west."

Roussin added based on current numbers, especially in southern Manitoba, the province is in the early stages of a fourth wave.