WINNIPEG -- Nearly two dozen of Manitoba’s health-care workers tested positive for COVID-19 in the span of one week.

According to the province’s latest COVID-19 and seasonal influenza surveillance report from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, a total of 1,898 of Manitoba’s health-care workers have contracted the disease since the pandemic began. This is 23 more workers than the province reported the week before.

The report shows that 1,876 of these health-care workers have recovered, and two have died from COVID-19.

Of these nearly 1,900 workers, 1,105 are allied heath, health professionals and support staff, 535 are nurses/licensed practical nurses, 71 are physicians/physicians in training, and 39 are first responders. The occupations of 148 of the health-care workers are not identified. 

As for how they contracted the disease, nearly 60 per cent got it from close contact with a known case and 0.7 per cent got it from travel. For nearly 10 per cent of cases the source of infection is still being investigated, while for about 30 per cent of cases it’s unknown. 

The report adds that 321 pregnant Manitobans have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, which is 10 more pregnant cases than reported the week before. The province has also seen a total of 182 COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the pandemic, 97 of which were at long-term care homes. 

Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, there were 663 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, which is a decrease of 172 cases from the week before. 

The report notes that during this week the volume of lab tests increased to 1,755 tests per day, while the test positivity rate dropped to 6.1 per cent.

Of the 663 new cases, 41 per cent came from the Northern Health Region and 29 per cent from the Winnipeg Health Region. The Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority accounted for 16 per cent of the new cases, while the Prairie Mountain Health Authority and Southern Health - Santé Sud Regional Health Authority both reported seven per cent of the cases. 

More than half of Manitoba’s total COVID-19 cases -- 51.9 per cent -- were contracted through close contact with other cases, while 1.2 per cent were travel-related. Manitoba is still investigating the cause of 23.5 per cent of cases, and for 23.3 per cent of cases the source is unknown. 

The report notes that the top contact type for close contacts is household exposure. 

There were no lab-confirmed cases of influenza in Manitoba from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.