WINNIPEG -- Another death has been linked to the B.1.1.7. variant in Manitoba.

In a bulletin on Tuesday, the province reported the death of a man in his 70s from Winnipeg. So far in the pandemic, there have been 36 deaths linked to variants of concern.

This most recent death brings the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Manitoba to 1,012.

Along with this death, the province reported 335 new cases, and a five-day test positivity rate of 13 per cent provincially.

Winnipeg remains the COVID-19 hotspot in Manitoba, with 241 new cases reported on Tuesday. The region has 3,257 active cases and a five-day test positivity rate of 14.4 per cent.

The other cases reported on Tuesday include:

  • 29 cases in the Southern Health region, which has 359 active cases;
  • 26 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region, which has 304 active cases;
  • 25 cases in the Northern health region, which has 272 active cases; and
  • 14 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, which has 351 active cases.

The new cases bring Manitoba's total number of cases reported in the pandemic to 45,913, which includes 4,543 active cases and 40,358 recoveries. One case was removed from the total due to a data correction.

MORE THAN 800 NEW VARIANT CASES REPORTED IN TWO DAYS

Since Saturday, the province has reported 833 new variant of concern cases. Variant data is updated Tuesday through to Saturday.

In total, the province has 6,970 variant of concern cases, which includes 2,530 cases that are considered active.

There were 326 new cases of the B.1.1.7. variant identified since Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,384.

The P1 variant accounts for 63 cases, and saw an increase of six cases over the past two days. There were no new cases of the B.1.351 variant reported. There are 3,495 unspecified variant cases.

HOSPITALIZATIONS JUMP, ICU NUMBERS DROP

Hospitalizations increased on Tuesday, with 278 COVID-19 patients in hospital – up from 265 hospitalizations on Monday. Of these cases, 216 are considered active while 62 are no longer infectious but still need care.

While hospitalizations were up, the total number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care dropped. As of Tuesday, there were 70 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, down by three since Monday.

These cases include 51 active cases and 19 cases that are no longer infectious but still need critical care.

There were 2,893 laboratory tests completed on Monday, bringing the total number of tests done since early February 2020 to 728,129.