Manitoba adds 10 deaths, pushing COVID-19 death toll over 700

WINNIPEG — Health officials in Manitoba announced that the province has added 10 new deaths linked to COVID-19, pushing the death toll over 700 since March on Wednesday.

Eight of the new deaths are from the Winnipeg area, three of which are due to the outbreak at the Seven Oaks Hospital in unit 4U8-12. They include a woman in her 80s, a man in his 80s, and a woman in her 90s.

Another death, a man in his 70s, is linked to the outbreak at the Golden Links Lodge. The remaining four deaths are a man in his 80s, two women in their 90s, and a man in his 90s, and are not linked to any outbreaks.

The two other deaths include a woman in her 40s from the Northern Health Region, and a man in his 70s from the Interlake-Eastern Health Region.

The province also added 176 new cases, though officials did note that nine previously announced cases were removed due to a data error.

There have been 25,541 cases since the start of the pandemic.

In Winnipeg there were 109 cases, 31 came from the Northern Health Region, 13 from the Southern Health Region, 12 from the Prairie Health Region, and 11 from the Interlake-Eastern Health Region.

The five-day test positivity rate is 10.4 per cent throughout Manitoba and 11.5 per cent in Winnipeg.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, the acting deputy chief provincial public health officer, said that Manitobans have been doing well to bring down numbers but now is not the time to stop.

"The restrictions in place have made a difference and are continuing to make a difference. I am asking you to keep going. We are still in the holiday season," said Atwal.

There are currently 4,460 active cases and 20,376 people have recovered.

Atwal also noted that there is still a backlog of active cases, so the number is lower than what is posted.

When it comes to hospitals, 237 Manitobans have COVID-19, with 32 in intensive care.

There are also 92 people in hospital who have recovered from COVID-19 but still require care, including five people in ICU.

On Tuesday, 1,845 tests were completed, bringing the total to 430,597 since February 2020.