Public health officials advise that three additional deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region;
• a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at Holy Family Home; and
• a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4.8 per cent provincially and 4.6 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 139 new cases of the virus have been identified. However, two cases have been removed due to data correction. This brings the net-new number of cases today to 137 and the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 34,793.
Public health officials are announcing 40 new screened or sequenced cases of the variants of concern have been detected today. Of these, 37 are B.1.1.7 variants of concern with 32 from the Winnipeg health region, two from Interlake–Eastern health region, two from the Prairie Mountain Health region and one from the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region. Three new screened or sequenced uncategorized cases have been detected and are from the Winnipeg health region.
In addition, officials report that a previously reported death has been linked to a variant of concern. The death, linked to the B.1.1.7 variant, occurred in late March in a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg region.
Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
• zero cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• 55 cases in the Northern health region;
• 18 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• six cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
• 60 cases in the Winnipeg health region.
The dashboard for COVID-19 in Manitoba can be found here.
The data also shows:
• 1,066 active cases and 32,781 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 58 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 83 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 141 hospitalizations;
• 13 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 20 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 33 ICU patients;
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 946; and
• the total number of screened or sequenced cases related to variants of concern for the following:
B.1.1.7 is 298;
B.1.351 is 20;
cases that have not been categorized is 21; and
the total number of variant of concern cases is 339.
Ongoing reviews of active case information has allowed for the removal of an additional 317 cases to ‘recovered’ from ‘active’ and provides a more accurate reporting of active cases.
Laboratory testing numbers show 2,027 tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 596,872.
An outbreak has been declared at Boissevain Health Centre and Evergreen Place Personal Care Home in Boissevain. The facility has been moved to the Critical (Red) level on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System.
Additional data related to COVID-19, including data on outbreaks as well as some downloadable and historic data, can be found at https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/.
New Public Health Orders
Public health officials advise minor amendments are being made to current public health orders. The changes include allowing liquor cart sales on golf courses and increasing the maximum attendance at self-help meetings to 25.
The changes will come into effect on Friday, Apr. 9 at 12:01 a.m. Due to increasing test positivity rates and the risk posed by variants of concern in Manitoba at this time, the orders are being extended to Apr. 30.
Personal Care Home Visitor Guidelines
Personal care home visitor guidelines have recently been updated to allow for up to two general visitors to visit a resident at the same time, provided the visit occurs outdoors, and one general visitor in a COVisitation shelter or designated indoor visitation room.
Visitors will be required to wear a medical-grade mask, which will be provided by the facility. In-room visitation continues to be limited to designated family caregivers and end-of-life circumstances. As the weather gets warmer, public health officials continue to recommend that visits take place outdoors as much as possible, as the risk of COVID-19 transmission is significantly less than in an indoor setting.
Possible exposure locations are listed online by region at the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System webpage. For up-to-date information on possible public exposures to COVID-19 in regions, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event and click on your region.
Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly. For more information, go to Cross-Departmental Reports at https://manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments/index.html.
For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, including information the online screening tool, testing criteria and locations, self-isolation requirements, public health fundamentals and the provincial response level on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.