Province announcing 71 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths

The number of people being treated for COVID-19 out of province is lowering, now with less than half a dozen in Ontario.

Public health officials advise two new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:
• a male in his 30s from the Interlake-Eastern health region, linked to an unspecified variant of concern; and
• a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant of concern.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.6 per cent provincially and 5.5 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 71 new cases of the virus have been identified. However, one case was removed due to a data correction. This brings the net-new number of cases today to 70 and the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 56,586.

Of the 71 cases reported today, the COVID-19 data shows:
• 19 new cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• four new cases in the Northern health region;
• four new cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;   
• 12 new cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and   
• 32 new cases in the Winnipeg health region.
 
The data also shows:  
• 990 active cases and 54,442 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 152 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 in Manitoba and neighbouring provinces including: 
   - 64 people in hospital in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 83 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious, amounting to a total of 147 hospitalizations;  
• a total of 38 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including:
   - 13 people in intensive care units in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 20 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, amounting to a total of 33 ICU patients in Manitoba; and
    - five Manitoba patients in intensive care units outside the province, all of whom are in Ontario;
• 40 patients previously receiving care in an out-of-province ICU have now been returned to Manitoba hospitals for further care; and
   - no COVID-19 patients were transported out of province for care yesterday;
• 1639 laboratory tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 839,643; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,154.