COVID-19 hospitalizations continue drop in Manitoba; 12 new deaths reported Wednesday

COVID hospitalizations plateau in Manitoba CTV's Michelle Gerwing has more on hospital numbers in Manitoba as it appears they are plateauing.

For the fifth consecutive reporting day, hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Manitoba have dropped.

According to Manitoba’s provincial COVID-19 dashboard, as of Wednesday 680 people are in hospital related to COVID-19. Of that number, 513 have active cases. When it comes to ICU patients with COVID-19, there are currently 43 Manitobans receiving treatment, including 31 with active cases.

Since hitting a peak of 744 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Feb. 2, the number of hospitalizations has steadily dropped.

Manitoba also reported 12 additional deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday. Of the deaths, 11 were in Winnipeg, including:

One death of a woman in her 80s from Southern Health Santé-Sud was also reported on Wednesday.

Since the pandemic started, 1,613 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in Manitoba. One death was removed from the total as investigation determined it wasn’t related to COVID, a provincial spokesperson said.

Manitoba reported 472 new cases on Wednesday, but health officials have previously cautioned that the numbers do not include rapid tests and the actual case count is likely higher.

The five-day test positivity rate is 24.8 per cent.

When it comes to Manitoba’s vaccine rollout, 85.9 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 80.5 per cent have received two doses. The province says 42 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received a booster dose.