Manitoba records new pandemic high case count, 603 COVID-19 cases on Thursday

$1M for business COVID recovery The Manitoba government is giving $1 million to help industries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic recover.

WINNIPEG — Manitoba has recorded 603 new cases of COVID-19 – the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases yet in the pandemic.

The previous single-day record of COVID-19 cases was set one week ago on May 13, 2021, when 560 cases were reported.

The new cases bring Manitoba's total to 46,916 – which includes 4,659 active cases and 41,238 recoveries. One case was removed from the total due to a data correction. The five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is at 13.8 per cent.

Winnipeg – which continues to be the COVID-19 hotspot in the province – reported 409 new cases on Thursday. The region has a five-day test positivity rate of 15.3 per cent, with 3,367 total active cases.

The other cases reported on Thursday include:

COVID-19 deaths in Manitoba increased to 1,019 on Thursday.

The deaths of a woman in her 40s from Winnipeg, and a man in his 70s from the Southern Health region have been linked to the B.1.1.7. variant of concern.

The death of a man in his 50s from Winnipeg was also reported on Thursday.

MORE THAN HALF OF ICU PATIENTS INFECTED WITH COVID-19

As of Thursday, Shared Health confirmed there were 125 patients in ICU – the province's normal pre-COVID capacity was 72 beds.

More than half of the total patients in intensive care are infected with COVID-19.

The province said there were 76 COVID-19 patients in ICU on Thursday, including 56 people with active cases. The remaining 20 COVID-19 patients are no longer infectious, but are still very sick and require critical care.

Shared Health told CTV News that nine of the COVID-19 patients in ICU are under the age of 40.

CTV News confirmed Wednesday that the province had moved three COVID-19 patients in intensive care to a hospital in Thunder Bay, Ont., to help ease the strain on ICU staffing.

READ MORE: Third Manitoba COVID-19 patient transferred to Thunder Bay due to ICU strain

As of Thursday, 291 people were in hospital with COVID-19, including 232 people with active cases.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN JUMP BY NEARLY 500 CASES

Variant of concern cases jumped by 495 on Thursday, bringing the total number of variant of concern cases to 7,636. This includes 2,546 active cases and 5,047 recoveries.

There have been 43 deaths in Manitoba linked to variants of concern.

There are 3,631 cases of the B.1.1.7. variant in Manitoba, along with 29 cases of the B.1.351 variant and 65 cases of the P1 variant.

There were no new cases of the newly recognized B.1.617 variant on concern and its sub-lineages on Thursday. The variant, which was first identified in India, was officially recognized as a variant of concern in Manitoba on Wednesday. This variant accounts for 18 cases.

There are 3,893 variant cases that have not been specified.