One new COVID-19 death in Manitoba, case count continues to drop

Winnipeg -

One new COVID-19 death was announced in Manitoba on Monday, bringing the total to 1,125 since the start of the pandemic.

The death was a woman in her 80s from Winnipeg and was part of the outbreak at Seven Oaks General Hospital 3U4-7. Her death is linked to the Alpha variant, first reported in the United Kingdom.

Health officials also announced 74 new cases of COVID-19, pushing Manitoba's total to 55,405.

It’s the lowest daily case number since April 14, when 86 COVID-19 cases were reported.

The five-day test positivity rate in the province is eight per cent and 6.9 per cent in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg’s test positivity rate is the lowest since April 23, when it was 6.8 per cent.

The new cases include 50 in Winnipeg, 15 in the Southern Health Region, and three cases each in the Interlake-Eastern Health Region, Northern Health Region and Prairie Mountain Health Region.

Manitoba currently has 2,075 active cases and 52,205 people have recovered.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said even though case numbers are lowering and more Manitobans are getting vaccinated, COVID will still have an impact of the health-care system.

"We still expect hospitalization and ICU numbers to remain high over the coming weeks," said Roussin.

"It will be up to Manitobans to take the steps to protect each other."

There are 141 Manitobans in hospital in the province with active COVID-19, including 37 in intensive care.

Another 90 people are in hospital but no longer infectious, but still require care, including 21 people in ICU.

There are also another 15 Manitobans in intensive care units outside of the province, 14 in Ontario and one in Alberta.

No new patients were transported out of Manitoba.

Roussin also noted those who are admitted to hospital and ICU, the length of stay has varied, which is what leads the health-care system to feel the effect longer.

On Sunday, 1,568 tests were completed, bringing the total to 816,536 since February 2020.

Roussin also addressed where COVID-19 is currently transmitting in Manitoba, noting workplaces in the province are the cause for many cases.

He said the proportion of cases has risen in workplaces because the current health orders don't allow much to be open.

"When you start to talk about proportion related to transmission, that proportion will no doubt go up whenever you have significant restrictions in place. So we don't have many places right now to allow for transmission other than workplaces."

Roussin added there isn't any one specific workplace that is seeing a large amount of transmission but said the virus spreads when there is prolonged indoor contact.