Two more deaths, four new cases in the north and 146 more cases total - more bad news came Wednesday on the Manitoba COVID-19 front.
The province announced the information Wednesday afternoon, breaking the record for new cases set just one day ago. Of the 146 new cases, 114 were found within Winnipeg.Â
In the north, two new cases were found in the Island Lake health district, while one new case was reported in the Cross Lake/Pimicikamak health district. Another new case has been reported in the Thompson/Mystery Lake health district, while one person who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in the district has now recovered.
Active cases in the north have been reported by the province in the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake district (eight, all listed as active despite York Factory First Nation saying seven people have since recovered), in the Thompson district (five), at Island Lake (three), in the Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake district (two) and in an "unknown district" (two). One case each has now been found in both the Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin district and in the Cross Lake/Pimicikamak district.
Manitoba's five-day test-positivity rate is also at an all-time high, jumping from 3.5 Tuesday to 4.4 Wednesday. The jump is so dramatic that a graph showing Manitoba's five-day rate on the provincial government's COVID-19 dashboard has been stretched to show the higher numbers.
Two more people, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s, have died from COVID-19. Both are from the Winnipeg region and were previously announced cases. The two victims bring the province's death toll from the disease to 37.
Possible exposures have been reported at three schools in southern Manitoba - Mitchell Middle School in Mitchell and Margaret Park School and Acadia Junior High in Winnipeg. While people have tested positive for COVID-19 at each of the three sites, the province says they likely did not catch the disease at the school. Close contacts of the three people have been told to self-isolate by public health officials.
Public health officials advise all people to avoid closed-in or crowded spaces when possible, to stay home when showing possible COVID-19 symptoms, to wash and sanitize hands often, to socially distance when outside the home and to wear a mask when social distancing is not possible.
