87 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths reported in Manitoba on Saturday

There are 87 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba on Saturday, the province's online dashboard says.

The update brought the province's seven-day case average up for the second straight day, this time to 69.

The number of deaths due to the illness remained unchanged at 1,160, according to the online dashboard.

Manitoba is no longer putting out COVID-19 news releases on weekends. That means COVID-19 updates on Saturdays and Sundays will now come from the province's online data portal, which contains fewer details.

For example, that dashboard does not provide details on deaths like the person's age or what health region they lived in. 

Those and other details are expected in the province's next COVID-19 news release on Monday.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate is now five per cent, the dashboard says, which is down from 5.1 on Friday.

There are now 140 COVID-19 patients in hospital in Manitoba, including 34 in intensive care, the dashboard says.

That doesn't include Manitobans with the illness who have been transferred to hospitals outside the province for critical care, a step first taken in mid-May as the province worked to free up space in its strained hospitals.

On Friday, there were still four Manitobans being cared for in Ontario hospitals.

Manitoba also reported 75 cases newly linked to coronavirus variants, the province's online variant dashboard says. Of those cases, 29 are linked to the B.1.1.7 alpha variant while 46 are still listed as unspecified.

As of Saturday, Manitoba has now fully vaccinated 56.1 per cent of its population age 12 and older against COVID-19, and 76.1 per cent have received at least one dose, the province's online vaccine dashboard says.

That brings Manitoba slightly closer to its third and final reopening plan vaccination target, which has a Sept. 6 target deadline. By then, the province aims to have at least 75 per cent of those eligible fully immunized and at least 80 per cent vaccinated with a first dose.

The province has already passed the target for its second phase of reopenings, which called for a first-dose vaccination rate of at least 75 per cent and a 50 per cent fully vaccinated rate by the Terry Fox Day holiday in August. New public health orders are expected in the coming week.

Since the start of the pandemic, 56,826 Manitobans have tested positive for COVID-19. There are 1,051 cases still deemed active, while 54,615 people are considered recovered, the dashboard says.