Man in his 20s, youngest person to die of COVID-19 in Manitoba

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba chief public health officer, speaks during the province's latest COVID-19 update at the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg Saturday, March 28, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — EDITOR'S NOTE: On November 25, 2020, The Manitoba government said the man in his 20s was incorrectly reported as dead due to a data entry error. The man is a COVID-19 patient, and in isolation.

A man in his 20s is the youngest person to die of COVID-19 in Manitoba yet, as the province's death toll surpasses 200.

On Friday Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said the man is from the Winnipeg health region and had underlying health conditions. For privacy reasons, public health does not release what these conditions are.

No further details about his death have been released. He is the youngest person to die of the virus in the province.

"All these announcements are much more than numbers – these are people. This is a young man," Roussin said. "This is tragic to see all of these listings every single day now."

For the past month, public health has reported deaths every single day. In that time, 164 Manitobans have died of COVID-19.

"We have to maintain our focus that these are not just numbers – these are people," Roussin said.

He reported the deaths of eight more people on Friday, which include:

In total, 207 Manitobans have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic first hit the province in March.

Friday also saw 438 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, though one case was removed due to an error. These new cases bring Manitoba's total number of COVID-19 cases to 12,919. The current five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is now 13.7 per cent

The majority of the new cases were in Winnipeg, which reported 247 cases with a five-day test positivity rate of 13.7.

Though Roussin said another area of the province is seeing cases surge. The Southern Health region reported 114 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba – the hotspot in the region is the City of Steinbach.

READ MORE: 'We need to end that': COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Steinbach and other regions of southern Manitoba

The other cases reported on Friday include:

"We need to stay home. We need to stay safe," Lanette Siragusa, the chief nursing officer, said. "We need to protect our loved ones and we need to protect our health system."

The province said there are now 281 people in hospital with COVID-19 across Manitoba, including 43 people who are in intensive care. Siragusa said these include people of all ages, including young people. She said right now there is a baby in hospital with COVID-19.

READ MORE: Manitoba doubled number of COVID-19 deaths in 13 days: health official

The number of active cases in Manitoba is reported to be 7,861.

The province also reported 196 more people have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,851.

"This virus is robbing us all of pieces of our normal lives, but it is robbing families of their loved ones, and we can do something about it and we must," Siragusa said.

Public health continues to remind Manitobans to stay home, leaving only for essential reasons. If you do go out, be sure to wear a mask in all indoor public places.