Manitoba COVID-19 hospitalizations reach new pandemic high of 735 on Monday

The number of COVID-19 patients in Manitoba hospitals reached an all-time high on Monday.

Manitoba marked19 deaths and 20 more hospitalizations on over the weekend, according to the province's online dashboard.

There are now 735 people in hospital due to the coronavirus, and 1,562 people have died in the province since the start of the pandemic.

Intensive care units have 56 COVID patients in total, the highest number of the fourth waveand four more than when the province last updated the numbers on Friday. However, the total number of all patients in ICUs fell by seven to 103.

The province's five-day test-positivity rate fell to 30.4 per cent from 32.1 per cent.

Another 505 cases have been confirmed by PCR testing Monday, and the provincial total increased by 1,782 over the last three days, although this significantly undercounts the true number due to restricted access to testing.

Of those new cases, 193 were in the Winnipeg Health region, 163 were in Prairie Mountain, 56 were in Southern Health,51 were in Interlake-Eastern, and 42 were in the Northern Health region.

With thedeaths announced Monday, 1,562 people have died due COVID-19. Four deaths were removed from the total last Thursday after they were determined to have not been related to the virus, a spokesperson for the province said.

Labs completed 1,817 more tests on Sunday.

Currently, 31,535 cases are listed as active, while 87,547 have recovered.

The total number of confirmed cases in Manitoba is now 120,644.

As of Monday, 85.6 per cent of eligible Manitobans had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 79.6 per cent had two doses, and 40.2 per cent had received a booster shot.

A total of 70,377 first doses have been given to children between ages five and 11, representing 56.3 per cent of that age group in Manitoba.

Within the past six weeks, peoplewho are not fully vaccinated were three times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, seven times more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and five times as likely to die, according to figures provided by the province.

Outbreaks declared

Outbreaks have been declared at:

• Seven Oaks General Hospital, unit 5U4-7, in Winnipeg.
• Grace Hospital, unit 3 North, in Winnipeg.
• Victoria General Hospital, unit 4 North, inWinnipeg.
• Douglas Campbell Lodge personal care home, units B and C, in Portage la Prairie.
• St. Paul's Personal Care Home, in Dauphin.

The following outbreaks have been declared over:

• Bethania personal care home, in Winnipeg.
• Neepawa Health Centre, inNeepawa.