534 new COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths reported in Manitoba on Sunday

There are 534 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba and four more people have died from the illness, the province said in a news release on Sunday.

More than 60 per cent of the new cases are in the Winnipeg health region, which reported 329 infections. The area also posted a five-day test positivity rate of 14.1 per cent, the release said, down slightly from 14.2 on Saturday.

Manitoba's rate rose to 12.3 per cent, up from 12 on Saturday.

The rest of the cases announced Sunday are split between the Southern Health region (which reported 84 new infections), the Prairie Mountain Health region (43) and the Interlake-Eastern and Northern health regions, which each reported 39.

Three of Manitoba's latest COVID-19 deaths were among people in their 50s, the release said. That includes a man from the Winnipeg health region, plus two people — a man from the Northern Health region and a woman from the Winnipeg health region — who had the more contagious B117 coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. 

The death of a man in his 80s linked to an outbreak at Winnipeg's Holy Family Home was also reported.

The latest deaths bring Manitoba's total linked to COVID-19 to 1,010.

There are now 258 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Manitoba — up by 17 since Saturday. One more person is in intensive care, bringing the number of COVID-19 patients in those units to 71, which marks a new record in the province.

Nine of the COVID-19 patients in intensive care are under age 40, a spokesperson for Shared Health said.

Fifty-one per cent of Manitoba's adult population has now had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the province's online vaccine dashboard says. Across Manitoba, 649,264 shots have now been doled out.

Vaccine appointments cancelled

The province says some vaccine appointments made on Friday — when the eligibility dropped to include people 12 and up — have been cancelled.

That's because some parents booked under their own name, and not the name of their child, a spokesperson from the province said in an email.

The spokesperson said if parent has already received their first dose of the vaccine, the appointment was cancelled because the province isn't booking second appointments at this time.

The spokesperson said the province will continue to review appointment cancellations and monitor the system for any cancellations made in error. 

Parents who used their own names to book their child's appointment and received a cancellation email are asked to call or go online to book again.

Updates on coronavirus variants detected in Manitoba only happen Tuesday through Saturday on the province's online variant dashboard.

As of Saturday's numbers, the more infectious strains made up at least 2,407 — or 54 per cent — of Manitoba's total 4,440 active COVID-19 cases.

Manitoba has now identified a total of 45,149 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic last year. That includes 39,699 people who have been deemed recovered, the release said.

People can now start booking appointments for COVID-19 tests at a new mobile test site at 1181 Portage Ave. in Winnipeg. In most cases, you should only get tested if you have symptoms of the illness or if you've been told by public health that you're a close contact of a COVID-19 case, the release said.

Information about how to book a COVID-19 test is available on the province's website.