No deaths, COVID-19 hospitalizations drop in Manitoba on Friday

Sequencing suggests BA.2 on the rise in Manitoba Data from the province suggests BA.2 transmission is increasing, but more information is still needed to confirm. Michelle Gerwing explains.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Manitoba dropped on Friday, according to the province’s dashboard.

The dashboard showed 359 Manitobans are being treated in hospitals, a decrease of 10 from Thursday. Of those, 165 have active cases of the virus.

When it comes to intensive care, the province says 19 people are being treated, with 14 having active cases.

No deaths were reported Friday, leaving the death toll at 1,739.

The province reported 153 new cases on Friday, though the case number is likely higher due to rapid antigen tests not being included in the total. There are 3,830 active cases, according to the dashboard.

Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate is 12.9 per cent.

Starting next week, the province will not be updating the dashboards; instead, information about COVID-19 will be updated in weekly epidemiology reports which will be found online.

The provincial vaccine dashboard will continue to be updated up until the end of March. After that, the vaccination data will be available in the weekly reports.

Looking at vaccine uptake, 86.4 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one dose, 82.7 per cent are fully vaccinated and 44.6 per cent have received a booster.

-With files from CTV's Danton Unger