Province announces eighth COVID-19 death By: Larry Kusch Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2020 Last Modified: 4:20 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2020 Updates

Manitoba reported its first COVID-19 death in nearly three months on Tuesday, but health officials were releasing few details.

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Manitoba reported its first COVID-19 death in nearly three months on Tuesday, but health officials were releasing few details.

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This article was published 28/07/2020 (1918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba reported its first COVID-19 death in nearly three months on Tuesday, but health officials were releasing few details.

A man in his 70s from the Southern Health region is the province’s eighth coronavirus fatality and the first since May 5.

A spokeswoman for Manitoba Health said the man died on July 22 and had not been hospitalized.

The province would not say whether he suffered from any underlying health conditions, as has been the case with most COVID-19- related deaths in Manitoba.

After repeated requests for information from the Free Press, the spokeswoman revealed the man was “a known contact of a previously reported case.”

Reported coronavirus deaths in Manitoba

March 27: A Winnipeg woman in her 60s who had been in intensive care is the first Manitoban to die of the coronavirus.

April 3: A Winnipeg man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions is the province’s second fatality due to the virus.

April 7: The third Manitoban to die is a Winnipeg man in his 60s with underlying medical conditions.

April 10: The province’s fourth COVID-19 death is a man in his 70s from Winnipeg with underlying medical conditions.

March 27: A Winnipeg woman in her 60s who had been in intensive care is the first Manitoban to die of the coronavirus.

April 3: A Winnipeg man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions is the province’s second fatality due to the virus.

April 7: The third Manitoban to die is a Winnipeg man in his 60s with underlying medical conditions.

April 10: The province’s fourth COVID-19 death is a man in his 70s from Winnipeg with underlying medical conditions.

April 15: A woman in her 60s from Prairie Mountain health region who had been in intensive care is Manitoba’s fifth virus death.

April 20: The sixth person to die of COVID-19 is a Winnipeg woman in her 80s with underlying health conditions.

May 5: A man in his 70s with underlying health conditions from Southern Health authority becomes the seventh Manitoban to die of COVID-19.

July 28: A man in his 70s from Southern Health, who is reported to have died six days earlier, is announced as the province’s eighth COVID-19 death. He had not been hospitalized. There’s no word on whether he had underlying health conditions.

“Public health announced the death today after a thorough investigation and confirmation of results,” she said in an email Tuesday. She offered no more information, citing privacy reasons.

Officials would not say whether the man died at home, in a personal care home or in some other facility.

It’s unclear when they learned that he had COVID-19 or even if the virus was the immediate cause of death.

The death occurred as Manitoba has seen a modest surge in coronavirus cases following nearly two weeks without a reported infection earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the province issued a news release reporting five new COVID-19 cases (including the person who died). In addition to the man in his 70s from Southern Health, the new cases involved a man in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region, a man in his 20s from Prairie Mountain health region, and a male between the ages of 10 and 19 and a woman in her 40s from Interlake-Eastern health region.

Three Manitobans remain in hospital with COVID-19, two of them in intensive care. There are 78 active cases.

The current five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is now 0.40 per cent.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, former head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, interviewed before the province revealed the latest death had been linked to a previous COVID-19 case, speculated that Manitoba officials may not have confirmed the man had the virus until after he died.

If officials just learned the man had COVID-19, they would have to identify who was in contact with the man when he first began showing symptoms, he said.

“There’s certainly time to do the contact tracing, but you’d have to be quick because you’re finding out about this somewhat after the fact,” Butler-Jones said.

Dr. Joel Kettner, associate professor at the University of Manitoba Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said public health officials should provide as much information as possible about COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations so that the public has a greater understanding of the health risks caused by the virus.

“You can give a whole bunch of information without breaking anonymity,” he said Tuesday. “We need more details so that we can understand what our risks are.”

For persons under 60 years of age with no underlying health conditions, the risks of death or hospitalization from COVID-19 are low, said Kettner, who was formerly the province’s chief public health officer.

Most COVID-19 deaths involve elderly persons with underlying health conditions, he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca