Province reports 35 new COVID cases, one death

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This article was published 01/03/2021 (1845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba reported 35 new COVID-19 infections and a single death Monday. 

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said a man in his 60s from Winnipeg was the latest Manitoban to die from the virus, raising the total to 896. 

New cases were reported in all but one health region. Winnipeg and the Northern Health region each reported 16 new cases of the virus. Interlake-Eastern reported two new infections and Southern Health-Santé Sud reported one. 

No new cases were found in the Prairie Mountain Health Region. However, just 1,220 COVID-19 tests were processed at the laboratories Sunday.

No new cases involving more contagious coronavirus variants have been detected. As of Monday, five cases of the B.1.1.7 variant originally detected in the U.K. have been found in Manitoba.

“As we continue to battle this pandemic, and monitor for variants of concern, it’s crucial we continue to avoid the activities that are known to cause the most risk,” Roussin said. “These are those closed spaces, crowded places, close-contact settings.” 

The current five-day test positivity rate is 3.9 per cent provincewide and three per cent in Winnipeg.  According to the province, 184 people were admitted to hospital as of Monday morning for COVID-19 treatment, including 25 patients in intensive care. And 68 patients are still infectious.

The province has also made new data available on the impact of COVID-19 on racialized communities.

Data show African, Filipino, Latin American, Indigenous and South Asian communities are disproportionately affected by the disease.

“It’s important to note that this is not about the people in these communities making bad choices or people not following public-health guidance,” Roussin said. “We need to look at this data in the context of many factors, such as occupation, income, housing adequacy to understand how race influences the effects of COVID-19.”  

COVID-19 in Manitoba: Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity

Meanwhile, the province has expanded the eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccines and has started booking appointments at the immunization clinic in Selkirk. 

In a release sent Monday afternoon, the province said the mass vaccination clinic at the former Selkirk and District General Hospital will open next Monday. Appointments are available in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and in Selkirk. The province has yet to announce when it will open appointments for the clinic in Morden.

Manitobans who were born on or before Dec. 31, 1930 and First Nations people born on or before Dec. 31, 1950, are eligible for the vaccine.

Also this week, the province said members of several northern communities will travel into Thompson to be vaccinated at the recreation centre supersite.

The first communities participating in the pilot program transporting people to Thompson for immunization include Wabowden, Herb Lake Landing, Snow Lake, Grand Rapids and Misipawistik.

The province said the communities were selected based on their readiness and ability to travel for the vaccine.

More information about the strategy to roll out immunizations in northern Manitoba will be released soon, the province noted.

So far, 76,670 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Manitoba, including 28,890 second doses.

To date, 108,460 doses have been delivered to Manitoba. Another 16,380 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected this week.

A complete listing of current vaccine eligibility is available at www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria.html.

Appointments can be booked by calling 1-844-626-8222.