324 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths in Manitoba over 3 days

Manitoba reports 324 new cases of COVID-19 and two more people have died over the last three days.

Lab tests identified 121 cases on Saturday, 120 cases on Sunday and 83 cases on Monday.

The provincial test positivity rate hit 3.7 per cent, up from three per cent on Friday. In Winnipeg, the rate is 1.5 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent on Friday.

The two people whose deaths were announced Monday are men in their 70s from the Southern Health region, linked to unspecified variants of concern.

The Southern Health region had the highest number of new cases over the three days, with 122, followed by 87 in the Winnipeg health region, 48 in the Northern Health Region, 42 in Prairie Mountain Health and 25 in the Interlake-Eastern health region.

Of the 83 new cases identified on Monday, 59 are in people who were not fully vaccinated. 

The proportion of new cases Monday that weren't fully vaccinated were 25 out of 29 in Southern Health, 14 out of 23 in the Winnipeg region, nine of 15 in Prairie Mountain Health, 10 of 12 in the Northern region and one of four in the Interlake-Eastern region.

The number of active cases in the province rose to 814 on Monday, from 712 on Friday.

On Monday, 98 people were in hospital due to COVID-19, including 18 in intensive care. There are currently 85 people in ICUs in Manitoba, while the normal pre-pandemic ICU capacity is 72.

Labs completed 2,403 COVID-19 tests on Sunday. 

An outbreak at Christian Heritage School in Brandon has been declared over.

New restrictions begin Tuesday

Monday's update comes as the province moves back into the restricted orange level of its pandemic response system.

New public health orders that come into effect Tuesday reduce capacity limits on gatherings that include people who are eligible to receive the vaccine but have not yet been fully vaccinated.

Starting Tuesday, indoor private gatherings will be restricted to two households and outdoor gatherings on private property will be capped at 10 people if any unvaccinated person who is eligible for the shot is in attendance.

Indoor public spaces are limited to 25 people or 25 per cent capacity, whichever is lower, if someone who chooses to remain unvaccinated is present.

Indoor faith-based gatherings that don't require proof of vaccination will be reduced to 25 people or 33 per cent capacity, whichever is greater.

In the Southern Health region, which has a disproportionately large number of COVID-19 cases and the lowest vaccination rate in the province, businesses will be limited to 50 per cent capacity.

Public health officials say the rules are needed to blunt the impact of the fourth wave of the pandemic and protect the health-care system.

On Friday, the last time the province released updated COVID-19 data, there were 92 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including 19 in intensive care. 

There were a total of 97 patients in intensive care units in Manitoba; the pre-pandemic baseline capacity was 72.