Provincial health officials announced 18 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday afternoon, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 435.
This marks Manitoba’s biggest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since April 2, when 40 new instances came to light.
Just like on Saturday, when two new cases emerged, the province said their online data for active cases, hospitalizations, recoveries and testing from the long weekend won’t be updated until Tuesday afternoon.
But as of Friday, the province was contending with 70 active cases, including six people with the illness being hospitalized (five of whom were in intensive care).
Otherwise, 337 individuals have recovered from COVID-19 while eight people have died, with the most recent death being announced on Tuesday.
The man who passed away was in his 70s and lived in the Southern Health region.
The most recent data from the province also indicates that the Prairie Mountain Health region is grappling with two new COVID-19 cases, which brings the region’s total up to 43 as of Friday.
Manitoba public health officials also confirmed on Friday that exposure to COVID-19 may have occurred at Asian Spices of Brandon from a case that was identified Thursday.
In a news release from Friday, health officials said people who were in the Brandon spice store throughout July 22-23 may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Even though the risk of exposure is low, health officials are telling people who were at this location at those times to monitor for symptoms.
An additional 1,073 laboratory tests were completed on Thursday, bringing the total number of tests completed since early February to 88,621.
» The Brandon Sun
