Public health officials advise six new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

• a male in his 50s from the Interlake-Eastern health region, linked to an unspecified variant of concern (reported Thursday);
• a male in his 50s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Thursday);
• a male in his 60s from Southern Health-Santé Sud (reported Thursday);
• a male in his 60s from Southern Health-Santé Sud, linked to the delta (B.1.617.2) variant of concern (reported Thursday);
• a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday); and
• a male in his 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday).

Today’s five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 44.4 per cent provincially and 52.6 per cent in Winnipeg. Manitoba’s COVID-19 Dashboard is available here.

As of 9:30 a.m. today, 5,813 new cases of the virus have been identified: 2,548 cases on Thursday, Jan. 6, and 3,265 cases today. This includes:

Eleven cases have been removed due to data correction. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 94,850.

There were 3,265 new cases identified in Manitoba today. Of these, 588 are in individuals who were not fully vaccinated. This includes:

Today’s data also shows:

• 24,595 active cases and 68,847 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 297 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 including 257 people with active COVID-19 as well as 40 people who are no longer infectious;
• a total of 34 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including 33 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as one person who is no longer infectious but continue to require critical care;
• 5,389 laboratory tests were completed yesterday bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 1,311,112; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,408.

Outbreaks have been declared at:

• Poseidon Care Centre in Winnipeg;
• Golden West Centennial Lodge in Winnipeg;
• Convalescent Home of Winnipeg;
• Kildonan Personal Care Centre in Winnipeg;
• River Park Gardens personal care home in Winnipeg;
• Concordia Place personal care home in Winnipeg;
• Lions Manor in Winnipeg; and
• Tudor House personal care home in Selkirk.

Public health tries to directly contact individuals who have tested positive after a PCR test, but this is not always successful. Individuals who have been tested but have not been contacted should follow public health guidance on self-isolation and contact tracing at www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/fundamentals/self-isolation.html and www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/testing/monitoring/index.html until they receive results. If you work or live in a high risk setting like a health care facility, personal care home, or a shelter for vulnerable people, the site should also be notified if you test positive or your results are pending. If you have questions, please contact Health Links – Info Santé at  204-788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257 (toll-free).

Manitoba has updated eligibility for rapid antigen testing and PCR testing at provincial testing sites. Staff at these sites will determine which test individuals should receive, based on provincial criteria. More information is available at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/testing/index.html. At this time, there are approximately 6,000 COVID-19 tests awaiting processing.  Additional resources are in place to address this and case counts are expected to increase as this work is completed. For up-to-date information on COVID-19 testing site locations and hours and to book an appointment online at certain sites, visit: https://gov.mb.ca/covid19/testing/locations.html.

Vaccine

As of today, a total of 2,548,223 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 61,108 first doses given to children ages five to 11. This represents 48.9 per cent of children in that age group. As of today, 84.5 per cent of all eligible Manitobans ages five and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 77.9 per cent have received two doses and 28.3 per cent have received three doses.

Due to a Pfizer vaccine supply shortage, all adults age 30 years and up will be offered the Moderna vaccine for their first, second or third dose. People under 30 may face an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis as a rare side effect. While this was rare after Moderna, it is even more rare after Pfizer. The province wants to reserve the Pfizer supply for this age group, so they are offered the option that has the lowest risk. People over the age of 30 did not experience the same increased risk of these side effects, regardless of which vaccine they received.

When attending a vaccine appointment, people are reminded to bring their completed consent form (available online at https://protectmb.ca), wear a short-sleeved shirt, wear a well-fitting mask, and bring their health card or other form of identification. To help support good physical distancing on site, people should arrive no more than 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment time.

Manitobans are encouraged to get their second and third doses as quickly as possible. The timeline between second and third doses and eligibility criteria information can be found at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria.html. Eligible individuals can book their appointments online, by calling (toll-free) 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC) or by contacting their local pharmacy or medical clinic directly. Visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/finder.html for some of the available options.

(Manitoba Government News Release)