Three more COVID-19 deaths in Manitoba Wednesday, all linked to Alpha variant

WINNIPEG -

Health officials announced three more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, all linked to the Alpha variant first reported in the United Kingdom.

The deaths include a man in his 60s from the Southern Health Region and two men from Winnipeg, one in his 60s and one in his 70s.

The death toll is now at 1,132.

Officials also said another 123 cases of COVID-19 were added. However, one previously announced case was removed due to a data correction.

The case total comes after three consecutive days with fewer than 100 cases.

There have been 55,589 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Manitoba currently has a test positivity rate of 7.1 per cent and in Winnipeg, it is 6.6 per cent.

Winnipeg once again had the highest number of new cases with 64, followed by the Northern Health Region with 22.

Southern Health had 16 cases, 12 are from the Interlake Region and nine are in Prairie Mountain Health.

Manitoba has 1,789 active cases of COVID and 52,668 people have recovered.

There are currently 222 Manitobans in hospital related to COVID-19 in Manitoba and other provinces.

Currently, 121 patients have active COVID-19, including 34 in intensive care, while another 88 are no longer infectious but still require care, 23 of which are in ICU.

There are 13 patients outside of the province; 12 in Ontario and one in Alberta.

On Tuesday, 2,013 COVID-19 tests were completed, bringing the total to 819,809 since February 2020.