Manitoba

6 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Manitoba on Sunday

The update brings the total number of cases identified in the province to 394, 10 of which were announced this weekend.

Total cases now 394; information on active cases, recoveries, hospitalizations to be updated Monday

Vehicles lined up outside the Manitoba Public Insurance building on Main Street, which is currently being used as a drive-thru COVID-19 testing centre. As of Friday, 81,186 COVID-19 tests had been completed in the province since early February. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

Six new cases of COVID-19 were announced in Manitoba on Sunday.

The update brings the total number of cases identified in the province to 394. Ten of these were announced this weekend.

Numbers on recoveries, hospitalizations and testing from this weekend will be updated again on Monday, the Manitoba government said on Twitter.

On Friday, two people with the illness caused by the new coronavirus were in intensive care in the province. They were the only people with COVID-19 in hospital, the province said in its news bulletin that day.

There were 58 active cases in Manitoba as of Friday; with the new cases announced this weekend, that number rose to 68.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate — a rolling average of the percentage of completed tests that came back as positive — was 0.86 per cent as of Friday.

To date, 81,186 COVID-19 tests had been completed in the province since early February.

Phase 4 of Manitoba's reopening plan came into effect on Saturday. Those changes included allowing movie theatres and casinos to reopen and stage performances to resume, all with restrictions in place. 

Changes to visits at long-term and personal care homes also moved forward as of Saturday.

Public health officials announced on Thursday they would stop announcing when newly identified COVID-19 cases are on Hutterite colonies unless there's a risk to public health.

That change came after people in Hutterite communities said they were facing stigma and discrimination after several of Manitoba's latest cases of the illness were linked to colonies in the province.