Public health officials advise 10 new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

• a male in his 70s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Saturday);
• a male in his 70s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region (reported Saturday);
• a male in his 70s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region (reported Saturday);
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
• a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
• a male in his 60s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Monday);
• a female in her 80s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region (reported Tuesday);
• a female in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Tuesday);
• a female in her 60s from the Northern health region, linked to an unspecified variant of concern (reported Wednesday); and
• a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to an unspecified variant of concern (reported Wednesday).

Today’s five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 40.3 per cent provincially and 48 per cent in Winnipeg.

Manitoba’s COVID-19 Dashboard is available here.

As of 9:30 a.m. today, 8,960 new cases of the virus have been identified since Friday: 1,753 cases on Sat., Jan. 1, 1,939 cases on Sun., Jan. 2, 1,721 cases on Mon., Jan. 3; 1,757 cases on Tues., Jan. 4; and 1,790 cases today. This includes:

Two cases have been removed due to data correction. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 89,050.

There were 1,790 new cases identified in Manitoba today. Of these, 279 are in individuals who were not fully vaccinated. This includes:

Today’s data also shows:

• 18,844 active cases and 68,804 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 252 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 including 211 people with active COVID-19 as well as 41 people who are no longer infectious;
• a total of 30 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including 29 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;
• 4,822 laboratory tests were completed yesterday bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 1,299,234; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,402.

Outbreaks have been declared at:

• Unit 4W, Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg;
• Unit 4U 8-12 at Seven Oaks General Hospital in Winnipeg;
• Unit GA5/GA5 step down at Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg;
• Unit GD4, at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg;
• Unit GA4, at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg;
• Inpatient Unit, Pinawa General Hospital in Pinawa;
• Oakview Place personal care home in Winnipeg;
• Actionmarguerite St. Vital personal care home in Winnipeg;
• Golden Links Lodge personal care home in Winnipeg;
• Holy Family personal care home in Winnipeg
• Tuxedo Villa personal care home in Winnipeg;
• St. Amant Centre in Winnipeg;
• Milner Ridge Correctional Centre in Beausejour;
• Middlechurch Home personal care home in Winnipeg; and
• Misericordia Health Centre, Transitional Care Unit, C5 in Winnipeg.

Outbreaks have been declared over at:

• Heritage Lodge personal care home in Winnipeg;
• The Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie;
• Ecole Regent Park in Winnipeg; and
• Meadows School in Brandon.

Manitoba’s COVID-19 testing approach is based on current and evolving public health evidence. To protect testing capacity, public health is recommending updates to eligibility for rapid antigen testing (RAT) and PCR testing at provincial testing sites.

Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 is eligible for testing. Only symptomatic individuals or those advised by public health should visit a COVID-19 provincial testing site. Rapid antigen tests will continue to be used for the majority of people visiting a provincial testing site. Those who are at higher risk of severe illness, as well as some groups who have tested positive on a rapid antigen test, will still be eligible for PCR testing. Detailed information on updated COVID-19 testing eligibility can be found at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/testing/index.html.

At this time, there are approximately 6,800 COVID-19 tests awaiting processing. 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.

Enforcement

The Manitoba government is also providing an update on ongoing enforcement efforts to protect Manitobans from the spread of COVID-19. A total of 60 warnings and 26 tickets were issued for the weeks of Dec. 20 to Jan. 2, including:

• four $1,296 tickets to individuals;
• 20 $298 tickets to individuals for failure to wear a mask in an indoor public place;
• one $5,000 ticket to a business; and
• one $8,550 ticket to an individual under the Federal Quarantine Act.

Manitobans are urged to continue reporting compliance and enforcement issues by visiting www.manitoba.ca/COVID19 and completing the reporting form, or by calling 204-945-3744 or (toll-free) 1-866-626-4862 and pressing option three on the call menu. Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly at: https://manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments/index.html#cdr.

Tickets issued by health region include:

• one ticket in the Interlake-Eastern health region (four per cent);
• two tickets in the Northern health region (eight per cent);
• one ticket in the Prairie Mountain Health region (four per cent);
• 12 tickets in Southern Health-Santé Sud (46 per cent); and
• 10 tickets in Winnipeg health region (38 per cent).

Vaccine

As of today, a total of 2,515,478 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 59,951 first doses given to children ages five to 11. This represents 47.9 per cent of children in that age group. As of today, 84.3 per cent of all eligible Manitobans ages five and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 77.8 per cent have received two doses and 26.1 per cent have received three doses.

There is currently a limited supply of the Pfizer vaccine. All adults aged 30 years or older will be offered the Moderna vaccine for their first, second or third dose. This will help ensure enough Pfizer remains available for people aged 12 to 29. People under 30 receiving an mRNA vaccine 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. These side effects are rare, temporary, mild and treatable.  This means that if only Moderna is available to a young person, it is still safer for them to get the Moderna vaccine than to take the risk of a COVID infection. When both vaccines are available, Manitoba wants to make sure that young people are offered the option that has the lowest risk of myocarditis.  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. While COVID-19 vaccine appointments continue to be available at regional or provincial vaccine clinics, for many people the fastest way to be immunized is at a nearby medical clinic, pharmacy or urban Indigenous clinic. Check the online vaccine finder or a medical clinic or pharmacy near you that provides the COVID-19 vaccine to find the next available opportunity to be immunized. The timeline between second and third doses and eligibility criteria information can be found at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria.html.

Many Manitoba vaccine sites as well as pharmacies and clinics are offering walk-in and appointment-based vaccination for COVID and seasonal flu. 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)