21 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Manitoba on Saturday, including 10 in Winnipeg

Another 21people in Manitoba have tested positive for COVID-19, the province said in a news release on Saturday.

Ten of those cases are in the Winnipeg health region, the release said.

There are four each in the Southern Health and Prairie Mountain Health regions, and three in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

Initial investigations suggest eight of Saturday's new cases are linked to close contacts of the illness, the release said. More information will be released if a public health risk is identified.

The Concordia Place care home in Winnipeg has now declared a COVID-19 outbreak after a health-care worker there tested positive for the illness, the province's news release said. The care home announced the case on its website on Friday.

The site has also been moved to the red, or critical, risk level under the province's colour-coded pandemic response system, the release said.

The worker's case was previously identified and the risk at the siteis considered low, the provincesaid. The care home brought in the outbreak protocols in an abundance of caution.

Concordia Place is the seventh care home in Manitoba and the third in Winnipeg to bring in outbreak protocols in recent weeksafter having a worker test positive for COVID-19.

Outbreaks have nowbeen declared at:

• Bethesda Place personal care home in Steinbach.
• Rideau Park Personal Care Home in Brandon.
• Hillcrest Place personal care home in Brandon.
• Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon.
• Fred Douglas Lodge personal care home in Winnipeg.
• Beacon Hill Lodge personalcare home in Winnipeg.
• Concordia Place personal care home in Winnipeg.

As of Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin's last update on Thursday, the outbreak at Bethesda Place had spread toseven workers and six residents, four of whom have died.

The outbreaks at Hillcrest Place and Fairview, meanwhile, had each spread to a second worker as of Thursday. All the other sites still only had one worker who tested positive.

Part of the Brandon Regional Health Centre's Assiniboine Centrealso declared an outbreak earlier this week. The second floor of that building, which houses a rehabilitation unit,had two health-care workers and five patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday.

There arenow 13 people hospitalized with COVID-19in Manitoba, with twoin intensive care, the province says.

The 21 new cases announced Saturday bring Manitoba's active COVID-19 caseload to 426.

The province'sCOVID-19 test positivity rate a five-day, rolling average of the tests that come back positive remains 1.4 per cent.

To date, there have been 1,294 cases of the illness identified in the province. A total of 852 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Manitoba a jump of 17 from Friday while 16 have died.

Saturday's 21 new casescome after ninecases of the illness caused by the new coronavirus were announced in the province on Fridaythe first time in more than three weeks the province saw a single-digit daily increase incases.

On Friday, 1,494 more COVID-19 tests were done in the province, the release said. That brought the total number done since early February to 144,212.