Manitoba reports 19 deaths, 81 more hospitalizations over weekend

The number of Manitobans in hospital increased by 81 over the weekend and 19 more people have died due to COVID-19 over the last three days.

There are now 378 people in hospital due to COVID-19, a 27 per cent increase over the 297 total hospitalizations reported on Friday.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has now reached its highest level since around the peak of the second wave of the pandemic in late December 2020.

The deaths reported on Monday include five on Saturday, seven on Sunday and seven on Monday.

Of those, 10 were in the Winnipeg Health region, six were in the Southern Health region, two were in the Interlake-Eastern Health region and one was in Prairie Mountain region. 

They include two men in their 20s, one woman in her 30s, two women in their 40s, three men and three women in their 50s, two men in their 60s, two women in their 70s, three women in their 80s and one woman in her 90s.

These deaths bring Manitoba's toll to 1,427.

Intensive care units took in four more COVID-19 patients, bringing the total to 39. A total of 93 patients are currently in intensive care, a slight decrease from 96 on Friday. 

Manitoba's pre-pandemic baseline ICU capacity was 72. 

The increasing numbers of severe outcomes does not surprise epidemiologist Souradet Shaw, he said in an email statement Monday.

"We know that hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators. Since mid-December, we have had over 30,000 diagnosed cases in the province, with the actual number of infections much, much higher."

Hospitalizations in Ontario reached a record high on Saturday, and last week, Quebec reported more than 2,000 patients in hospital for the first time since the pandemic started.

"Ontario and Quebec started to show increases in serious outcomes from Omicron about a week ago; there is no reason to believe we won't be headed down the same road," Shaw said.

Although ICU admissions haven't yet reached the levels seen at the height of the third wave, the province has seen a steady increase over the last three or four days, said Dr. Philippe Lagacé-Wiens, a medical microbiologist at St. Boniface Hospital who is also an assistance professor at the University of Manitoba.

The southern and northern health regions also have not yet seen significant surges in Omicron cases, Lagacé-Weins said.

"We are going to be seeing more cases in those parts of the province, and those individuals tend to be more vulnerable — one, because they have lower vaccine rates in the south, and in the case of the north, we're also seeing people with more comorbidities, in crowded living, which will probably exacerbate the problem."

A total of 7,083 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the province last updated numbers on Jan. 7, bringing the total to 101,933.

The number of cases reported Monday likely significantly undercounts the total number of active cases in the province, due to the rapid spread of Omicron variant, which has overwhelmed testing capacity and led to many cases going unreported.

Manitoba's test positivity rate rose to 49 per cent, up from 44.4 per cent on Friday. 

Labs completed a total of 4,397 COVID-19 tests on Sunday, and the province says its testing backlog has now been cleared.

Over the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, the number of people in hospital increased by 201 patients, or 51 per cent from the previous week. Over that same period, the province averaged about 1,814.7 cases per day.

As of Friday, a total of 62,163 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been given to children between five and 11 years old, representing 49.7 per cent of that age group.

Outbreaks declared

The province has declared outbreaks at the following locations: 

• Vista Park Lodge in Winnipeg.
• Neepawa Health Centre.
• Misericordia Health Centre, unit C2 in Winnipeg.
• Health Sciences Centre, unit GD3 in Winnipeg.
• Thompson General Hospital, obstetrics and neonatal unit.
• Donwood Manor personal care home, first floor in Winnipeg.
• Brandon Regional Health Centre, 400 medical unit.
• Grace Hospital, unit 3 south in Winnipeg.