More than 300 Manitoba health-care workers test positive for COVID-19 in same week

WINNIPEG -- Over 300 more of Manitoba’s health-care workers have contracted COVID-19.

According to the Manitoba government’s most recent surveillance information from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5,  since the start of the pandemic 1,149 of the province’s health-care workers have tested positive for the disease, which is 325 more cases than the week before.

The province added that 867 of these workers have since recovered.

Of these 1,149 health-care workers, 649 are allied health and support staff, 336 are nurses/licensed practical nurses, 44 are physicians and physicians-in-training and 22 are first responders. There are also 98 health-care workers whose jobs have not been identified.

As for how the workers contracted the disease, the surveillance data, which monitors the intensity, geographical spread, characteristics and transmission of COVID-19, shows that 59.2 per cent got it from close contact with a known case and 1.1 per cent got it due to travel-related reasons. For 13.2 per cent of the cases the cause of the infection is still being investigated, and for 26.5 per cent of health-care workers the source is unknown.

The province is reporting a notable increase in the number of pregnant Manitobans who have contracted COVID-19. Since March, 193 pregnant people have tested positive for the disease, an increase of 27 cases from the week prior.

The data also shows a jump in the number of COVID-19 outbreaks across the province, with Manitoba going from 116 to 130 outbreaks. 

Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, there were 2,361 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which is a decrease of 545 from the week before. 

The volume of tests also decreased compared to the week before, going from 2,882 tests per day to 2,544.

However, what did increase this week was Manitoba’s test positivity rate, which went from 13.1 per cent to 13.3 per cent.

Of the 2,361 new cases, 64 per cent were from Winnipeg Regional Health and 15 per cent from the Southern Health - Santé Sud Regional Health Authority. The Northern Health Region reported 10 per cent of the cases, the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority accounted for 6 per cent, and the Prairie Mountain Health Authority reported five per cent of the new cases.

Since the pandemic began, 53.1 per cent of Manitoba’s cases were contracted through close contact to other cases, with 1.6 per cent from travel. For 20.7 per cent of cases the cause is still being investigated and for 24.6 per cent the source is unknown.