Manitoba reports 2 more COVID-19 deaths, 206 cases, including new Omicron case
Confirmed case brings total Omicron variant cases to 6 in Manitoba
Manitoba has two more deaths due to COVID-19 on Wednesday and 206 new cases, including a case of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The latest case of Omicron, which prompted the federal government to warn against non-essential travel abroad over the holidays, brings the total confirmed in Manitoba to six.
The number of Manitobans in hospital due to COVID-19 rose from 135 to 139, a news release from the province says.
The number of COVID-19 patients requiring critical care has been climbing since late last month.
There were 17 in ICU two weeks ago compared to 34 in ICU Wednesday.
The increase prompted Manitoba to ask Ottawa over the weekend to send 15 to 30 ICU nurses.
There were a total of 104 patients in Manitoba ICUs on Wednesday — including both those hospitalized for COVID-19 and other conditions — up one from Tuesday. Manitoba's pre-pandemic ICU capacity was 72.
The two recent deaths are a man in his 60s from Prairie Mountain Health and a man in his 70s from Interlake-Eastern health region. The two deaths reported on the provincial dashboard on Tuesday were a man in his 50s from Winnipeg and a man in his 60s from the Interlake-Eastern region.
So far, at least 1,357 Manitobans have died due to COVID-19.
The provincial test positivity rate climbed slightly from six to 6.2 per cent, and the rate in Winnipeg sits at 4.4 per cent.
That's comparted to rates of 12.9 per cent in the Southern Health region, 10.7 per cent in the Northern Health Region, 5.8 per cent in Prairie Mountain Health and 5.4 per cent in the Interlake-Eastern health region on Tuesday.
With 15 per cent of the population and the lowest vaccination rate in the province, Southern Health continues to account for a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases.
Of the new cases, over half (110) were among people who haven't been fully immunized.
Seventy-eight of the new cases were in detected in Winnipeg, with 38 among people who were not fully vaccinated.
Another 73 cases were identified in Southern Health, with 46 in people who haven't been fully immunized.
There were 23 cases in Prairie Mountain Health (13 not fully vaccinated), 17 in Interlake-Eastern (nine not fully vaccinated) and 13 in the Northern Health Region (four not fully vaccinated).
COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared over at Country Meadows Personal Care Home in Neepawa, a Grade 5 class at Assiniboine School in Winnipeg and at the Portage District General Hospital dialysis unit in Portage la Prairie.
The province also provided an update on COVID-19 enforcement, saying 27 warnings and 18 tickets were issued from Dec. 6 to 12.
There were four tickets of $1,296 issued to individuals for violating public health orders, and another another 14 tickets of $298 given to people for failing to wear masks at indoor public places.
Dr. Brent Roussin, chief public health officer, and Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the provincial vaccine task force, urged Manitobans to get their third doses as soon as they're eligible.
Roussin said Manitoba could begin to see 1,000 cases a day in the new year due to Omicron.
He warned against large holiday gatherings, stressing that people with health conditions that make them vulnerable need to take extra care.
WATCH | Full Dec. 15 news conference on COVID-19:
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With files from Bartley Kives