Five more Manitobans have died and there are 118 new reported cases of COVID-19 on Monday, public health officials say.
The latest deaths are a woman in her 30s, a woman in her 60s and three women in their 90s, all from the Winnipeg health region.
Two of the deaths were linked to Winnipeg outbreaks: one of the women in her 90s was linked to an outbreak at River Ridge II Retirement Residence, and another woman her in 90s was linked to an outbreak at Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home.
A total of 688 Manitobans have now died from COVID-19.
Of the new cases announced Monday, 80 are in Winnipeg. There are 19 in the Southern Health region, seven in the Prairie Mountain Health region, five in the Northern Health Region and seven in the Interlake-Eastern health region.
The five-day test positivity rate is 10.7 per cent provincially and 11.8 per cent in Winnipeg.
The news conference comes as Manitoba’s current public health orders are due to expire on Friday. Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief public health officer, gave the update for the first time since before the winter holidays.
It’s too early to say if rules will be relaxed, he said.
“We’re starting to see our case numbers coming down, and while our restrictions are due for review, we need to ensure that this is not the time that we relax our efforts against this virus,” he said.
“Our test positivity rates are still quite high, the hospitalization and ICU numbers are still high, and it’s also too early to know what the effects of what gathering over the holidays may have had on our numbers.”
Vaccine super site open
The current rules, which include a ban on indoor social gatherings with people from different households, also forbid the sale of non-essential items in stores, and order the closure of places of worship, gyms, theatres and other businesses. Under the rules, restaurants may only offer take-out and delivery.
Premier Brian Pallister suggested last week the province will likely ease some restrictions within the first three months of the new year, but didn’t indicate when that will happen or which rules may be lifted.
Manitoba’s daily case count, test-positivity rates and hospitalization numbers for COVID-19 have decreased somewhat in recent weeks. Test numbers were also lower over the holidays. A total of 1,275 tests were completed on Sunday, Roussin said.
There are currently 245 people in hospital with active COVID-19, as well as 95 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer considered infectious, said Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer for Shared Health.
There are a total of 113 people in Manitoba ICUs — 157 per cent of normal, pre-COVID capacity — including 35 people with active COVID-19 and six people with COVID-19 who are no longer considered infectious, she said.
A total of 65 people are on ventilators in Manitoba, Siragusa said, including 30 who have COVID-19.
Also on Monday, Manitoba officially opened its COVID-19 vaccination super site at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg.
More than 4,100 health-care workers had appointments to receive their first dose of the vaccine this week, and 2,000 slots remained available as of Sunday evening, the province said in a news release.
Appointments are available to health-care workers dealing directly with patients in critical care units and COVID-19 immunization clinics or testing sites. Health-care workers who work with patients at long-term or acute care facilities and who were born by Dec. 31, 1975, are also eligible.
