Severe outcomes from COVID-19 rose last week in Manitoba, latest report says

More people in Manitoba ended up in intensive care or died after getting COVID-19 last week than during the previous week, the province's latest epidemiological report says.

That report says the number of COVID-19 deaths added to the pandemic total was five during the week ending July 23, compared to three the week before. The report also shows eight people ended up in ICUs with the illness, up from two.

Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 2,061 Manitobans are known to have died of COVID-19.

But fewer people ended up in hospital with the illness last week than the week before. There were 45 COVID-19 hospital admissions, compared to 52 the week before.

Four new outbreaks of the illness were also reported in long-term care facilities, the report says.

Two of those outbreaks are in the Winnipeg health region: one in the Health Sciences Centre's PX2 unit and another in the Charleswood Care Centre's unit three.

The other two outbreaks are in the Prairie Mountain Health Region: at the Hartney Health Centre and Personal Care Home and on the first floor of the Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon.

The report also says the weekly provincial test positivity rate rose to 17.1 per cent from 13.9 the week before.

A total of 242 cases were detected that week, up from 171 a week earlier. But those numbers are significant undercounts of the true number of infections, because PCR testing the only kind of test the province tracks is limited to Manitobans who meet specific criteria.