WINNIPEG -- Provincial health officials say the first case of the P1 variant of concern – first identified in Brazil – has been found in Manitoba.
The province said this case of the variant was a person from the Interlake-Eastern health region, but provided no further information.
Manitoba is among six Canadian provinces or territories that have found the P1 variant as of Thursday.
READ MORE: Tracking variants of the novel coronavirus in Canada
According to provincial data, there were 87 new variant of concern cases identified as of Thursday including the P1 variant case. Of these cases, 288 are active and 357 have recovered.
The province announced one more COVID-19 death on Thursday. This was a woman in her 30s from the Interlake-Eastern health region. The province said her death brings the total number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Manitoba to 955.
On top of the deaths and variant cases, the province also reported 153 new COVID-19 cases.
Winnipeg reported 73 cases on Thursday, and saw a slight drop in its five-day test positivity rate which now sits at 5.1 per cent.
The Northern health region reported 57 cases on Thursday, followed by the Interlake-Eastern health region with 10 cases, the Prairie Mountain Health region with seven cases, and the Southern Health region with six cases.
The province's five-day test positivity rate remains at 5.3 per cent.
Manitoba has seen 35,688 COVID-19 cases so far in this pandemic, though four cases were removed from the total due to a data correction. Of Manitoba's total cases, 1,528 are considered active and 33,205 are listed as recovered.
The province said there were 137 COVID-19 patients in hospital as of Thursday, including 62 who have active cases and 75 who are no longer infectious but still need care. Of the 35 COVID-19 patients in intensive care on Thursday, 16 have active cases and 19 are no longer infectious but still need critical care.
The province said 2,648 laboratory tests were completed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of laboratory tests completed since early February 2020 to 613,701.
