15 COVID-related deaths reported over 3 days in Manitoba as hospitalizations dip

There have been 15 COVID-related deaths over the past three days in Manitoba, while hospitalizations decreased by five, the province's online dashboard says.

There are now 702 people in hospital with the virus, which is the lowest it's been in just over two weeks.

The latest deaths — which bring the total for the pandemic to 1,600 — were reported as five on Monday, seven on Sunday and three on Saturday.

The Monday deaths are a man in his 20s from the Northern Health Region, a man in his 60s from the Winnipeg health region, a woman in her 60s from the Prairie Mountain Health region, a man in his 70s from the Interlake-Eastern health region and a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region.

The three deaths from Saturday are all men in their 80s from the Winnipeg region, with one linked to an outbreak at Actionmarguerite St. Vital.

The deaths from Sunday are five people from Winnipeg and two from Southern Health.

Those from the Winnipeg health region are a man in his 60s linked to an outbreak at St. Amant, a man in his 70s linked to an outbreak at Holy Family personal care home, a man and a woman in their 80s, and a man in his 100s linked to an outbreak at Fred Douglas Lodge.

The deaths in the Southern Health region are both woman in their 80s.

The province reported 258 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, although health officials have repeatedly said those numbers are a significant undercount of the total number of active cases. Manitoba is strictly restricting access to PCR tests at provincial sites and does not track rapid test results.

There are 141 new cases in the Winnipeg health region, 41 in the Northern Health Region, 32 in the Prairie Mountain Health region, 23 in the Interlake-Eastern health region and 21 in the Southern Health region.

More information on the latest cases and vaccination status can be viewed on charts on the government website.

The 702 COVID-19 patients in hospital as of Monday is a drop of 34 since Thursday.

Dr. David Matear, health system co-lead with the Unified Health Sector Incident Command, said the data is positive, though the numbers are still high.

In the past week, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 4.5 per cent, he said. To give that context, those numbers were increasing 70 to 80 per cent week-over-week in early to mid-January.

"So we're headed in the right direction," Matear said.

In a news release on Monday, the province highlighted some trends for the week ending Feb. 3, which saw:

• 286 new hospitalizations — a 19.2 per cent decrease from the previous week.
• 34 new ICU cases — a 19 per cent decrease from the previous week.
• 3,301 cases — a 25.8 per cent decrease from the previous week (an undercount due to restricted testing).

There are currently 47 COVID-19 patients in ICUs, five fewer than on Friday. As of midnight, however, there are 109 adult patients in ICUs, counting both those with COVID-19 and those being treated for non-COVID-related issues.

The critical care program's normal, pre-COVID baseline capacity was 72 patients. 

"The number remains well above pre-pandemic levels and places a strain on our staff and our hospitals," Matear said.

Shift to Omicron in ICUs

A few weeks ago, while Omicron was the dominant variant across much of Manitoba, a majority of the COVID patients in ICUs were still confirmed to have the Delta variant, but recent analysis is showing a shift, Matear said.

"Approximately 90 per cent of ICU patients with COVID [are] now confirmed to have Omicron," he said.

What that says is that while Omicron tends to result in milder symptoms for most people, there are still many who are vulnerable to severe outcomes, he said.

"While the situation [in the province] is improving, we do continue to remind all Manitobans to get vaccinated, get your booster dose, stay at home when you're sick and to make choices about activities and venues that you're returning to as restrictions begin to loosen," Matear said.

New public health orders, with more relaxed restrictions, are slated to come into effect on Tuesday.

A new outbreak has been declared at the Russell Health Centre in Russell, while previously announced outbreaks are now declared over at Victoria General Hospital, Unit 4 South, in Winnipeg, the Bethesda Regional Health Centre, media unit, in Steinbach, Salem Home personal care home in Winkler, and Fairview Personal Care Home in Brandon.

"Things in the health-care system are showing signs of slowing but don't misinterpret that for anything resembling normal. It's very busy," Matear said.

There are still many staff redeployed away from their normal duties to support the care of COVID patients and there are many Manitobans who continue to wait for procedures that have been postponed, he said.

"We're very much looking forward to having this wave in our rearview mirror, but we're not there yet, although we're headed in the right direction."

As of Monday, 85.8 per cent of eligible Manitobans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 80.3 per cent have had at least two and 41.7 per cent have had three, the provincial vaccine dashboard says.

Eligibility for first and second doses includes anyone age five or older. Those 18 or older are eligible for a third dose, if there's been a long enough interval since they received their second dose.

The province also announced on Monday that people 12 and older who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour, those who live in congregate living facilities and those who have underlying health conditions can now receive a third dose.

The province is following the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, which recommends a booster for kids age 12-17 who may be at risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes due to biological and social risk factors, as well as those who face systemic barriers to accessing health care.

The total number of doses administered in the province is now at 2,778,417.