COVID-19 hospitalizations surge in Manitoba, wastewater readings spike in Winnipeg
Test positivity rate continues to rise, now at 29.6%
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Manitoba jumped significantly in the past week while wastewater surveillance data for Winnipeg also suggests transmission of the virus is rising in the city.
There were 103 people hospitalized for COVID-19 from Oct. 9-15, says the province's latest weekly surveillance report, released Thursday. That's an increase from 73 the week before.
There were 14 more people admitted to intensive care units, which is the same number that were admitted the previous week.
As of midnight, there were 93 adult patients in ICU units in Manitoba. That number includes patients receiving both COVID and non-COVID care, a provincial spokesperson said.
The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 declined in the most recent data, as compared to a week earlier. There were nine more deaths reported in the Oct. 9-15 report, and 13 in the Oct. 2-8 report.
The total number of people in Manitoba who have died from the virus since the pandemic started is now 2,199.
Wastewater data
Federal wastewater data for Winnipeg shows a sudden upswing in the virus in the city.
The seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 viral load in wastewater more than tripled from Oct. 6 to 13 (the latest available data) at the city's north end treatment plant and nearly doubled at the south end treatment plant.
The data remained relatively stable at the west end plant and in Brandon.
There were 402 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases across Manitoba in the most recent surveillance week, an increase of 60 over the previous week.
Those numbers, however, are believed to be significant undercounts of the true number of infections, due to limited access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the only type of test recorded by Manitoba Public Health.
The provincial lab tested a daily average of 304 specimens, up from 284 the week before.
The test positivity rate also continues to rise. The latest percentage is 29.6, up from 24.1, marking the fifth consecutive week of increases.