Winnipeg's five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is lowering to 2.4 per cent.

Public health officials advise one additional death in a person with COVID-19 has been reported today: 
• a female in her 80s from the Northern health region.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 3.5 per cent provincially and 2.4 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 63 new cases of the virus have been identified. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 32,288.

Public health officials advise of a possible exposure March 4 at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Church, 160 Euclid Ave. in Winnipeg from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. High-risk contacts have already been contacted by public health officials. However, any person concerned about their exposure to or risk of having COVID-19 should call Health Links–Info Santé at 204-788-8200 or (toll-free) 1-888-315-9257 to be screened to see if a test is required.

Dr. Brent Roussin says they are releasing the information in the church exposure because it is a high-risk location. He says there are approximately 40 close contacts. Roussin says he believes the event was a funeral and cannot give any more information on the exposure.

Case investigations continue and if a public health risk is identified, the public will be notified.

Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
• zero cases in Interlake–Eastern health region; 
• 36 cases in the Northern health region;  
• zero cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;  
• two cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and  
• 25 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The data also shows:
• 1,145 active cases and 30,236 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19; 
• 54 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 110 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 164 hospitalizations; 
• 10 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 12 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 22 ICU patients; 
• due to a data correction, one death that had been reported earlier has been removed so the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 907; and 
• the total number of confirmed variant of concern cases of B.1.1.7 is six and B.1.351 is three, bringing the total number of confirmed variant of concern cases to nine. 
 
Laboratory testing numbers show 1,390 tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 538,759.