More people with COVID-19 hospitalized, ICU number up, Manitoba reports

Manitoba reported more severe outcomes from COVID-19 in its latest update, and added six more deaths to its pandemic total.

The province's latest report, which was released Thursday and covers the week of Sept. 11 to Sept. 17, says the total number of people who have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic is now 2,143, up from 2,137 the previous week.

During that period, 87 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, up from 65 the week before.

There were 11 admitted to intensive care units, up slightly from 10 the previous week.

As of Sept. 17, wastewater surveillance data for Winnipeg indicated ongoing activity of COVID-19, with activity increasing in the last week of August, the report says.

The number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Manitoba is up from the previous week, with 377 for the week ending Sept. 17, compared to 342 the week before.

Those numbers are believed to be a significant undercount 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 province's weekly test positivity rate went up to 22 per cent, compared to 19.9 per cent the week before.