WINNIPEG -- The number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb in Manitoba with the province announcing 183 news infections of the virus along with three deaths, bringing the provincial death toll to 958.

Two of the deaths were men in their eighties from the Winnipeg health region, one of which is linked to an outbreak at the Health Sciences Centre GD4. The other death is a man in his sixties from the Northern health region.

Of the newly announced cases the majority are in the Winnipeg health region with 127. There are 24 in the Northern health region, 13 in Southern Health–Santé Sud, 12 in Prairie Mountain and seven in the Interlake–Eastern health region.

The province currently has 1,630 active cases of the virus, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 35,992.  

The current provincial five-day test positivity sits at 5.3 per cent, with Winnipeg’s rate at 5.4 per cent.

There is a total of 128 people in hospital because of COVID-19, with 32 of those patients in the ICU.

Of those hospitalized 58 have active cases of COVID-19 and 15 are in the ICU.

The remaining 70 people are no longer infectious but still require care, with 17 of those cases in the ICU.

The number of variants of concern in the province now sits at 710, with 287 of those being active and 421 recoveries. The B.1.1.7 variant is the most prevalent in the province with 622 cases.

New outbreaks have been declared at the Russell Health Centre in Russell and Lions Prairie Manor Personal Care Home in Portagae La Prairie. Both facilities have been moved to the critical level on the province’s pandemic response system.

Existing outbreaks at Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital 3 south and St. Anthony’s Hospital Psychiatric Unit in The Pas have been declared over.

The province has now completed 619,722 COVID-19 tests since early February of last year, after 2,828 tests were performed on Friday.