Two deaths, 223 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba Friday

WINNIPEG -

Manitoba is reporting two additional deaths from COVID-19.

During Friday’s COVID-19 case update, Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer, announced the deaths, which bring the death toll in Manitoba to 1,089.

The deaths were both in Winnipeg; a woman in her 80s, and a woman in her 90s, with her death being linked to the B.1.17 variant.

Manitoba also announced 223 new COVID-19 cases, with one case being removed due to a data correction.

Since March 2020, there have been 53,872 COVID-19 cases in the province. Of those cases, 3,490 are active, while 49,293 people have recovered.

Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate is 10.6 per cent, while in Winnipeg it is 11 per cent.

The majority of new cases were in Winnipeg, with 126 new cases reported. The Southern Health Region has 36 new cases, while the Northern Health Region has 27 new cases. The Interlake-Eastern Health Region reported 20 new cases, and 14 new cases were reported in the Prairie Mountain Health Region.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

As of Friday, 306 Manitobans are hospitalized with COVID-19 both in Manitoba and in neighbouring provinces.

There are currently 197 people in Manitoba hospitals with active COVID-19 cases, along with 79 people who are no longer infectious, but still need care.

The province said 63 Manitobans are receiving intensive care in Manitoba ICUs. Of those patients, 45 have active COVID-19 cases, while 18 people are no longer infectious, but still require critical care.

There are 30 Manitobans receiving ICU care outside of the province. Twenty-seven are in Ontario, one person is in Saskatchewan and two people are in Alberta. The province did not transfer any patients outside of Manitoba on Thursday.

Two Manitobans who were receiving treatment outside of the province have now been returned to Manitoba.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Variants of concern continue to be reported in Manitoba, making up 2,164 of the province’s active COVID-19 cases. A total of 11,141 people have recovered.

The majority of variant cases are unspecified, with 7,322 cases, followed by the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first reported in the United Kingdom, with 5,771 cases. The P1 variant, first reported in Brazil, accounts for 166 of the total variant cases.

The B.1617 variant and its mutations, first reported in India, also continues to grow, with 102 cases on Friday. The breakdown includes 78 cases of the B.1617.2 strain as of Friday, 14 cases of the B.1617.1 strain, one case of the B.1617.3 strain, and nine cases of B.1617.

The B.1351 variant, first reported in South Africa, is responsible for 45 cases.

There have been 101 deaths linked to variants of concern in Manitoba.