Province reports 135 new COVID cases, two deaths; test-positivity rate on the rise

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This article was published 05/04/2021 (1880 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s COVID-19 test-positivity rate rose above five per cent Monday, as the province reported 135 new infections and two additional deaths.

Most of the new cases — 63 — were in the Winnipeg health region, 43 were in the North, 19 in Prairie Mountain, seven in the Southern health region and three in Interlake-Eastern. The test positivity rate in Winnipeg is 4.3 per cent, and it’s 5.1 per cent provincially.

A woman in her 60s from the Prairie Mountain Health region and a woman in her 70s from the Winnipeg region were the two deaths reported Monday, raising the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in Manitoba to 940.

So far, 270 cases have been detected involving highly contagious variants of the virus in Manitoba. There are 235 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (first found in the U.K.) and 20 cases of the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa.

Hospitalization rates are increasing. As of Monday, there were 141 COVID-19 patients in hospital — 66 of them with active cases of COVID-19 and 75 people who are no longer infectious. In intensive care, there are 29 COVID-19 patients, including 13 with active cases of the virus.

The province didn’t issue an update on Easter, so Monday’s numbers include Sunday’s data.

The province has announced a new COVID-19 testing site is set to open Tuesday at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, located at 445 King St. The site is expected to be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to test symptomatic individuals and those who need a COVID-19 test to travel to a northern community. Both appointments and walk-ins will be accepted. Starting tomorrow, appointments can be made toll-free at 1-888-986-8152.

— Staff