Wednesday COVID-19 Update in Manitoba: 400 new cases, 87 recoveries, 2 deaths

Public health officials advise two new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

• a male in his 70s from the Southern Health-Sante Sud region (reported Wednesday); and
• a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Wednesday).

Manitoba’s COVID-19 Dashboard is available here.

Today’s five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 9.9 per cent provincially and 10.6 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 702 new cases of the virus have been identified since Monday: 302 cases on Tuesday, Dec. 21; 400 cases today. This includes:

Nine cases have been removed due to data correction. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 72,283.

There were 400 new cases identified in Manitoba today. Of these, 91 are in individuals who were not fully vaccinated. This includes:

Today’s data also shows:

• 2,622 active cases and 68,293 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 137 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 including 91 people with active COVID-19 as well as 46 people who are no longer infectious;
• a total of 24 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including 18 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as six people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care;
• One new cases of B.1.1.529 (omicron) variant have been confirmed in Manitoba for a total of 18;
• 3,524 laboratory tests were completed yesterday bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 1,240,802; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,368.

Outbreaks have been declared at:

• Beacon Hill Lodge, Winnipeg

The facility has been moved to the Critical (Red) level on the Pandemic Response System.

Outbreaks have been declared at the following schools:

• Westview School, grades 1/2, Winnipeg;
• Ecole Margaret Underhill, grade 1, Winnipeg;
• Faith Academy Middle School, Winnipeg;
• École Regent Park, class 4B, Winnipeg

The identified classes have moved to remote learning and the school has been moved to the Restricted (Yellow) level on the Pandemic Response System.

Outbreaks have been declared over at:

• Fernwood Place

Due to the holiday season some COVID-19 testing site hours of operation may have changed. Check locations and hours before you go at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/testing/locations.html.

Enforcement
The Manitoba government is also providing an update on ongoing enforcement efforts to protect Manitobans from the spread of COVID-19. A total of 21 warnings and 23 tickets were issued for the week of Dec 13-19, including:

• one $1,296 tickets to individuals; and
• 22 $298 tickets to an individuals for failure to wear a mask in an indoor public places

Tickets issued by health region include:

• zero tickets in Interlake-Eastern (zero per cent);
• zero tickets in Northern (zero per cent);
• two tickets in Prairie Mountain Health (nine per cent);
• 19 tickets in Southern Health-Sante Sud (82 per cent); and
• two tickets in Winnipeg (nine per cent).

Manitobans are urged to continue reporting compliance and enforcement issues by visiting www.manitoba.ca/COVID19 and completing the reporting form, or by calling 204-945-3744 or (toll-free) 1-866-626-4862 and pressing option three on the call menu. Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly at: https://manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments/index.html#cdr.

Due to the holiday there will be no enforcement data in next week’s Wednesday bulletin. Data will return on Jan. 5, 2022.

Vaccine

To have the fullest protection possible against COVID-19 going into the holiday season, Manitobans are encouraged to get their second and third doses as quickly as possible. While COVID-19 vaccine appointments continue to be available at regional or provincial vaccine clinics, for many people the fastest way to be immunized is at a nearby medical clinic, pharmacy or urban Indigenous clinic. Check the online vaccine finder or a medical clinic or pharmacy near you that provides the COVID-19 vaccine to find the next available opportunity to be immunized.

The timeline between second and third doses and eligibility criteria information can be found at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria.html.

A total of 2,378,890 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 55,426 first doses given to children ages five to 11. This represents 44.3 per cent of children in that age group. As of today, 84.6 per cent of all eligible Manitobans ages five and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 78.2 per cent have received two doses and 16.8 per cent have received three doses.

Many Manitoba vaccine sites as well as pharmacies and clinics are offering walk-in and appointment-based vaccination for COVID and seasonal flu. Eligible individuals can book their appointments online, by calling (toll-free) 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC) or by contacting their local pharmacy or medical clinic directly. Visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/finder.html for some of the available options.

More Resources

• Vaccine campaign in Manitoba: www.manitoba.ca/vaccine and https://protectmb.ca.
• Possible exposure locations by region: www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event.
• Data related to COVID-19, variants of concern, outbreaks and some downloadable and historic data: https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/.
• Up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba: www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.

(Manitoba Government News Release)