Another 164 cases of COVID-19 and one additional death were reported by public health in Manitoba as test positivity rates continued to rise on Wednesday across the province.
While cases dropped below 200, after hitting 211 on Tuesday — the most since early January — the provincial test positivity rate climbed to 6.3%, up 0.3% compared to Tuesday and up a full percentage point since Saturday.
In Winnipeg, the test positive rate rose to 6.6%, up 1.3% in the same time frame. The province carried out 2,785 tests on Tuesday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 630,143.
The majority of the new cases come in Winnipeg with 76 new infections. Every health region in the province recorded double-digit new cases on Wednesday, including 30 in Northern Health, 24 in Southern Health, 19 in Prairie Mountain and 15 in Interlake-Eastern.
Cases of variants of concern also increased with 30 new infections to a total of 804 in the province. Twenty-nine of the new cases were of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom. The one remaining case was listed as uncategorized.
The B.1.1.7 variant continues to be the dominant strain among VOCs, making up 704 of the total caseload (87.6%). Uncategorized cases, or cases that have yet to be determined as a specific variant, make up 78 of the remaining cases (9.7%), while 20 cases (2.5%) are listed as the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant, and two cases (0.2%) are the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
Two deaths have been attributed to variants of concerns, both linked to the B.1.1.7 variant, and there are 232 active VOC cases in Manitoba as of Wednesday, with 570 recoveries listed.
Total active cases in the province are listed at 1,833, with 33,838 people reported as recovered.
Wednesday’s additional death reported is a man in his 50s from the Northern Health region. Manitoba’s death toll during the pandemic is now at 961.
Hospitalizations rose by five admissions, up to 137, with 34 now in intensive care, up two from Tuesday’s numbers. Both numbers include active cases of the virus and patients who are no longer infectious but still require care.
Public health officials advise of a possible exposure to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern at McDonald’s, 217 Mystery Lake Rd. in Thompson. The dates include:
• April 8 from 4 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
• April 10 and 11 from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• April 13 and 14 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, a new outbreak was reported at St. Maurice Daycare in Winnipeg.
Several outbreaks were also declared over, including:
• Boyne Lodge Personal Care Home in Carman
• Boissevain Hospital and Evergreen Place Personal Care Home in Boissevain
• MD Practice Solutions of Manitoba
• Health Science Centre unit GD4
• Donwwod Manor
• Heritage Lodge
• Lions Manor Personal Care Home
• Meadowood Manor
• Oakview Place
• Parkview Place
