WINNIPEG -- Manitoba health officials said the number of active cases of COVID-19 has jumped to over 200 after 16 new cases were announced Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement, made in a news bulletin, shows there are now 202 active COVID-19 cases in the province.

Since March 12, there has been a total of 578 cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Of the new cases announced on Wednesday, 10 are located in Winnipeg. Four cases are located in the Prairie Mountain Health Region, one new case is located in the Interlake-Eastern Health Region, and one case is in the Southern Health region.

Of the 10 cases in Winnipeg, four are men in their 20s, two are women in their 20s, two are women in their 40s, and two cases are a man and a woman in their 30s.

The Prairie Mountain Health cases involve a female between the ages of 10-19, a woman in her 20s, and two men in their 40s.

The province said the majority of the Winnipeg cases are linked to travel or close contacts with known cases. The majority of the cases in Prairie Mountain Health are linked to previously announced cases in Brandon.

The Interlake-Eastern case is a woman in her 30s, while the Southern Health case is a woman in her 60s.

Five people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with three people in intensive care. The province said 368 people have recovered from COVID-19.

The total number of deaths remains at eight.

Since February, 105,661 laboratory tests have been completed for COVID-19 in Manitoba, with 1,554 tests completed on Tuesday.

POTENTIAL EXPOSURE ON THREE FLIGHTS

Health officials said potential exposure to COVID-19 may have occurred on three flights on August 3 and 4.

The three flights are:

  • August 3, Air India Flight AI 121 from New Delhi, India, to Frankfurt, Germany. Affected rows are 30 to 36;
  • August 4: Air Canada Flight 873 from Frankfurt, Germany, to Toronto Pearson International Airport on Aug. 4. Affected rows are 32 to 38; and
  • August 4: Air Canada Flight 271 from Toronto Pearson International Airport to the James A. Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg. The affected rows include rows 19 to 25.

Individuals in the affected seats are asked to self-isolate for 14 days following the flight and monitor for symptoms, while passengers on the flights not in the affected rows should self-monitor for symptoms.

The province assesses the risk of exposure as low but said it is sharing the information with people so they can seek testing if symptoms develop.