Case counts in northern Manitoba continue to climb

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2021 (1880 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The surge of COVID-19 cases in northern Manitoba continues to surpass infection rates in other areas of the province.

The Northern health region reported 95 cases Sunday — half of Manitoba’s total case count and more than any other region, including Winnipeg. New daily cases hit 189 Sunday, a slight increase from Saturday’s count of 180, owing to the spike in northern outbreaks. The province announced eight more Manitobans have died of the virus.

Five-day test positivity rates remained relatively steady as of Sunday — 10 per cent provincewide and seven per cent in Winnipeg.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Manitoba’s hospitals climbed to 292 Sunday, an increase of nine patients from the day before. Of those in hospital, 137 patients had active cases of the virus, while others were considered no longer infectious. Thirty-nine people were in intensive care.

Since the pandemic was declared in March, 769 Manitobans have died of the virus. On Sunday, the province announced that grim total included two deaths linked to previous outbreaks in a personal care home and hospital ward. The deaths include a man in his 70s from the Northern health region; a man in his 30s from the Winnipeg health region; a woman in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to an outbreak at Health Sciences Centre GA4; two men in their 70s from the Winnipeg health region; a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to an outbreak at the Southeast Personal Care Home; and two women in their 90s from the Winnipeg health region.

Of the new cases announced Sunday, 95 were in the Northern health region, 65 were in the Winnipeg health region, 12 in Interlake-Eastern, nine in Prairie Mountain, and eight in Southern Health.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay