210 new COVID-19 cases, 1 variant-linked death reported in Manitoba on Monday

Manitoba is reporting 210new cases of COVID-19 and one death linked to a more contagious coronavirus variant.

There are early indications public health officials may have detected a variant of interest associated with India,Manitoba's chief publichealth officer said at a press conference on Monday.

The B1617 variant hasn't been confirmed with further testing, he said.

"We need Manitobans to understand how critical we are right now in a race between vaccinations and the variants of concern, and really this means staying home as much as possible,"Dr. Brent Roussin said.

Mostof the new COVID-19 cases announced Monday were in the Winnipeg health region, which posted 157 new infections, a provincial news release says. There are also 19 new cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 15 in the Northern Health Region, 12 in the Interlake-Eastern health region and seven in the Southern Health region.

A woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg health region marks the fourth person to die of a coronavirus variant of concern. Her case is linked to the B117 variant, which was first identified in the U.K.

"We're in a very precarious place right now," saidRoussin.

WATCH | Rapid growth of COVID-19 in Manitoba:

Dr. Brent Roussin on rapid growth in Manitoba's COVID-19 case count in recent weeks

3 years ago

Duration 1:46

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, said Monday the province is seeing rapid growth in the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions similar to what was seen in the fall, but this time, the province is also facing more contagious coronavirus variants.

He says Manitoba is in the same spot as it was in the fall when the province saw a dramatic increase in cases, although in this wave, we are seeing more transmissible coronavirus variants.

Across the province, nearly 50 per cent of all positive tests from the week of April 11-17 involved concerning coronavirus variants, up from about 25 per cent the previous week,an epidemiology report shows.

As of Saturday, the last time the province updated its data, there were 558active cases involving variants.

Most of the active cases involve the B117 variant, which was first discovered in the U.K. There is also one active case of the P1 variant, which has become associated with Brazil.

Provincial data on variants of concern is updated from Tuesday to Saturday.

Meanwhile, Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate continues to rise.

The provincial rategrew to 7.6 per centfrom 7.1per cent on Sunday. In Winnipeg, that rate jumped to 8.2 per cent from 7.6.

Younger people in ICU

AlthoughCOVID-19 cases arebeing detected in all age demographics, the numbers are "rapidly increasing" among Manitobans in their 20s and 30s, Roussin said.

There are also148 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, the province said, up from 139 on Sunday. Of those, 37 are in intensive care.

Roussin says the average age of people in intensive care with COVID-19 is now 56, which is significantly younger than the ICU population during the second wave of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations are up 56 per cent from last week, he added.

There have now been 37,808 COVID-19 cases identified in Manitoba, of which 2,093 are considered active.

On Sunday, 2,784 COVID-19 tests were done in Manitoba.

WATCH | Why schools are still open:

Brent Roussin on why schools remain open for in-person learning in Manitoba

3 years ago

Duration 0:42

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, said Monday contact tracing shows more COVID-19 transmission is happening among children in gatherings outside of schools, and public health officials hope to keep schools open to in-person learning.

This latest update comes as the province announced new, strict public health orders.

Most Manitobans will no longer be able to have any visitors over indoors or outdoors at their homes for a period of at least four weeksamid rising COVID-19 cases, Roussin said.

Meanwhile,everyone living and working in the Northern health region, as well as people who live and some people who work in the Seven Oaks west health area in Winnipeg, are eligible to book an appointment for a coronavirus vaccine.

As of Monday, 429,312 doses have been administered, or about 32.9 per cent of Manitoba's adults.

Over the weekend, the province saw 259 new cases on Sunday and 276 cases on Saturday.

The seven-day average of daily case numbers is now about223. The same time last week, that number was 137.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | April 26, 2021:

Manitoba government daily briefing on coronavirus: April 26

3 years ago

Duration 54:31

Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Monday, April 26, 2021.