154 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths reported in Manitoba on Thursday

There are 154 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba on Thursday and twomore people have died from the illness, the province says in a news release.

The two deaths are men from the Southern Health region: one in his 40s and one in his 80s.

The province also provided more details about deaths announced earlier this week. The two announced Wednesday have now been identified as a woman in her 70s from the Southern Health region and a man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region.

A death announced Tuesdayhas now been identified as a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region.

All five of those deaths are linked to unspecified coronavirus variants, the release said.The latest deaths bring Manitoba's total to 1,253.

The daily case count is Manitoba's highest since June 18, when the province reported 189 new infections.

The new cases also bring Manitoba's seven-day running average daily count to 127 a new high for the province's fourth wave.

The last time the number was that high on June 22, when it was 129 Manitoba's third wave was receding.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate remains 4.9 per cent, the release said. In Winnipeg, therate is now up to two per cent.Manitoba completed 3,644 more COVID-19 tests on Wednesday.

Almost half the new cases are in the Southern Health region, which reported 70 new infections, with 59 or 84 per cent in people not fully vaccinated against the illness.

The rest are split between the Winnipeg health region (with 33 new cases, including 16 not fully vaccinated), the Northern Health Region (with 21, including nine not fully vaccinated), the Prairie Mountain Health region (with 15, 11 not fully vaccinated) and the Interlake-Eastern health region (with 15, seven not fully vaccinated).

Overall, that means nearly two-thirds of Manitoba's latest COVID-19 cases are in people not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the release said.

The number of people hospitalized with the illness has jumped to 115 from 106 on Wednesday, while the number in intensive care rose one to 24.

There are now 1,145 active cases of the illness in Manitoba, where 61,685 people to date have recovered from COVID-19.

The province also provided an update on enforcement of public health orders, which resulted in 40 warnings and nine tickets being doled out to people last week. There were eight $298 tickets for not wearing a mask in an indoor public place and one for $1,296.

No businesses received any pandemic-related fines last week.

Outbreaks declared

Outbreaks of COVID-19 have been declared at several more sites in Manitoba, includingWinnipeg's Health Sciences Centre GD2 surgery unit, Portage la Prairie's Portage District General Hospital medicine unit and Steinbach's Fernwood Place, the release said.

All three sites have been moved to the critical red level on Manitoba's pandemic response system.

An outbreak has also been declared at Stony Mountain School's grade 5/6 class, which has moved to remote learning. The school has moved to the restricted orange level on the pandemic response system.

There are also 41 more COVID-19 cases linked to schools in the province, Manitoba's online school coronavirus dashboard says.

There are 34infections in students andseven in staff, and six more schools have now reported cases of the illness.

Meanwhile, there were another 162coronavirus cases identified as variants of concern on the province's online variant dashboard Thursday.

The number still listed as unspecified variants rose by 163, while the number linked to the delta variant dropped by one.

Remembrance Day ceremonies

The province also reminded people about the public health orders in place for gatherings, which includes any Remembrance Day ceremonies next week.

At gatherings where proof of vaccination is not required, attendance will be limited to 25 people or 25 per cent capacity whichever is lower. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 50 people.

If a ceremony does require proof of vaccination, there are no limits on gatherings.

Events that take place in locations specifically addressed in Manitoba's public health orders, like licensed premises, must follow orders specific to those locations, the release said.