9 more virus deaths, 107 new cases in Manitoba on Monday

Manitoba postedits lowest daily case count since early November, but the daily test volume also fell to its lowest level in more than three months.

Another nine people have died due to COVID-19 in Manitoba, and 107 new cases have been confirmed, provincial health officials announced Monday.

Monday's case count marks the lowest single-day total since Nov. 3, although the 1,076 tests completed on Sunday was the lowest since Sept. 14, when the province announced 21 new cases of the virus.

The provincial five-day test-positivity rate is now 12.6 per cent, up from 12.1 on Sunday.The ratein Winnipeg is 12.4 per cent.

All but one of the nine deaths announced Monday are linked to outbreaks in long-term care facilities, including six in Winnipeg, one at the GrandviewPersonal Care Home in Grandview,and one at Kin Place in Oakbank.

Two of the deaths are connected with the Holy Family Home in Winnipeg, and two are connected with the Poseidon Care Centre. Other deaths are linked to the Convalescent Home of Winnipeg andBethania Mennonite Personal Care Home.

A man in his 60s from the Winnipeg region is among the nine deaths announced Monday.

The latest deaths bring the toll since the start of the pandemic in Manitoba to 654.

Total hospitalizations due to the virus rose slightlyto 343up from 341 on Sunday with 250 patients still considered infectious. Intensive care unit admissions also rose slightly to 37 up from 35 on Sunday with 33 active infections.

There have been a total of24,252 confirmed infections in Manitoba since the start of the pandemic,4,442 of which are still listed as active, although the province has said that number is likely inflated due to a backlog in clearing recovered cases.

The bulk of the new cases announced Monday 43 were in the Winnipeg Health region. The Southern Health region had 24 new cases, while there were 18 in the Northern Health region, 12 in Prairie Mountain Health, and 10 in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

A new outbreak has been declared at the St. Paul's Personal Care Home in The Pas.

In another development, an outbreak in the 5U4-7 unit at Seven Oaks Hospital has been declared over. That outbreak, which was announced on Dec. 1, led to eight patient infections, including one who later died.

Other outbreaks at the hospital in the 4U 4-7 and 4U 8-12 units remain active.

Vaccine clinics resume Tuesday

The province's will resume vaccinating front-line health workers on Dec. 29. The last immunization clinic was held on Dec. 23, with a total of2,177 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered.

The next clinics willtake place at University of Manitoba's Rady Faculty of Health Sciences on the Bannatyne campus from Dec. 29 to 31. The program will then move toRBC Convention Centre starting Jan. 4.

The province is taking appointmentsfor Jan. 4 to 10, with second-dose appointments scheduled for Jan. 25 to 31. About 800 first-dose appointments have been made and approximately 5,000 remain available, the province said in a news release.

To be eligible, workers must:

• work in critical care units.
• Work in long-term care facilities and be born on or before Dec. 31, 1962.
• Work in acute care facilities and be born on or before Dec. 31, 1962.
• Be assigned to a COVID-19 immunization clinic or testing site.

The province will launch an online dashboard to track the distribution of the vaccine starting in January.