Province reports 1,757 new COVID cases, two deaths

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This article was published 03/01/2022 (990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nearly two dozen Manitobans have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours as the province reported 1,757 new infections Tuesday.

The province’s pandemic dashboard indicates 251 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals as of Tuesday morning, an increase of 23 from Monday.

The number of people in intensive care with COVID-19 held steady at 32.

The deaths of two more Manitobans with the virus were also reported Tuesday, bringing the pandemic death toll to 1,400. Public health did not provide any details about the two people.

Of the new cases, 1,350 were in Winnipeg. However, that number was an undercount due to significant backlogs in laboratory processing of tests, delays in data entry and the expanded use of rapid tests, results of which are not reported by public health.

Interlake-Eastern reported 152 cases, followed by Southern Health with 122 new infections, 73 in Prairie Mountain and 60 in the Northern Health region.

The five-day provincial test positivity rate was 39.5 per cent as of Tuesday, setting a new pandemic record; 4,424 tests were processed Monday.

Premier Heather Stefanson, Education Minister Cliff Cullen and deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal were scheduled to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. to provide an update on return-to-school plans.

Students were scheduled to return to class next Monday after a winter break lengthened due to uncertainty surrounding the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

This afternoon’s new conference will be the first time government health officials have addressed the public since last Thursday when Shared Health executives outlined plans to prepare the acute-care system for a surge in hospitalizations as the number of health-care workers infected with the virus continues to increase.

Stefanson last held a new conference on Dec. 27 with chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin to announce a reduction in public gathering sizes and a curfew on liquor sales in restaurants and bars.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont called for Manitoba to be moved to code red on the pandemic response system Tuesday during a virtual news conference.

“We know that people want to go back to school. We know people want to go back to work and go back to their normal lives. The reality is Manitoba is not in a position to do that safely right now,” he said.

The Progressive Conservative government, he said, hasn’t provided enough N95 masks and rapid tests to keep those who need them safe and slow the transmission of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

“We cannot wait until our health-care system fails again as it did in the third wave before we act.”

Lamont said he’s hearing from health-care workers, teachers and early childhood educators calling for a lockdown.

“We have to protect the health-care system because we’re only a few people away from the ICU being overloaded. Once the health-care system can’t function properly, that’s when deaths start to go up,” he said.

— Staff