More than 2,500 COVID-19 cases in Manitoba Thursday as hospitalizations jump to 263

More than 2,500 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Manitoba on Thursday as hospitalizations saw a jump.

According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Thursday increased to 263, a jump of 11 patients compared to the 252 people in hospital on Wednesday. Of the hospitalizations, 222 people have active cases.

There are 33 people in intensive care, all but one of them with active cases.

The majority of the hospitalizations are in the Winnipeg region, which as of Thursday has 149 people in hospital with COVID-19 (136 with active cases) and 15 people in the ICU, all with active cases.

Thursday also saw another daily record set for COVID-19 cases, with 2,548 new cases reported. The province has previously said the number of daily cases reported may be higher due to the increased wait times for COVID-19 tests and test results in the province.

The cases reported on Thursday include:

• 1,503 cases in Winnipeg, which has a total of 14,340 active cases;
• 277 cases in the Southern Health region, which has 2,313 active cases and 52 total COVID-19 hospitalizations, including 11 people in ICU;
• 366 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, which has 2,100 active cases and 27 total COVID-19 hospitalizations, including three people in ICU; 
• 157 cases in the Northern health region, which has 694 active cases and 15 total hospitalizations, including one person in ICU; and
• 245 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region, which has 1,830 active cases and 20 total COVID-19 hospitalizations, including three people in ICU.

The new cases bring Manitoba's total to 91,587, including 21,277 active cases and 68,902 recoveries.

The provincial five-day test positivity rate – which is skewed higher due to targeted lab testing – increased to 40.3 per cent on Thursday. The province said 6,162 lab tests were completed on Wednesday.

Six more deaths were reported on Thursday, bringing the total number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Manitoba to 1,408. No details regarding the deaths were provided on Thursday.

As of Thursday, 84.4 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 77.8 per cent have received two doses and 27.3 per cent have received three doses.