Manitoba sees second-highest day of COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday

WINNIPEG — The Province of Manitoba has reported the second-highest single-day spike in deaths related to COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, announced 18 more people had died related to COVID-19.

The majority of these most recent deaths were reported in the Winnipeg health region, including a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 60s, and a man and woman in their 70s. These deaths were not linked to any active outbreaks.

Three deaths have been linked to outbreaks in Winnipeg hospitals, including a woman in her 50s whose death is linked to an outbreak at the Health Sciences Centre, a woman in her 70s whose death has been linked to an outbreak at the Victoria General Hospital, and a woman in her 80s whose death has been linked to an outbreak at the Misericordia Health Centre's Transitional Unit.

The deaths in Winnipeg linked to outbreaks at personal care homes include:

The province also reported the deaths of a man in his 60s, a woman in her 70s, and a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region, as well as the death of a woman in her 80s who has been linked to an outbreak at the Grandview Personal Care Home in the Prairie Mountain Health Region.

This brings the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Manitoba to 438.

The highest single-day spike of COVID-19 deaths was reported on Dec. 5, with 19 people dying due to the virus.

The province also reported 280 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning, bringing the five-day test positivity rate in the province to 13.5 per cent.

The majority of these cases were reported in the Winnipeg region, which had 193 cases as of Wednesday, and a five-day test positivity rate of 14.5 per cent.

The other cases in Manitoba include:

One case was removed from the total due to a data correction, which brings the total number of cases reported in Manitoba since the beginning of the pandemic to 19,655.

The province said active cases are now at 5,348, with recoveries reaching 13,869.

As of Wednesday, the province said 300 people were in hospital, including 38 people in intensive care.

This is a developing story. More to come.