Manitoba's COVID-19 death toll jumps 66 in most recent weekly update

Manitoba's official COVID-19 death count jumped by 66 in the most recent weekly epidemiological report.

In the latest report covering the period from May 8 to 14, provincial health officials reported a total of 1,913 people in Manitoba have died due to COVID-19, compared to 1,847 the week before.

Not all those deaths occurred in that one week, as the province regularly adjusts data as new cases are confirmed or removed.

During the week covered by the most recent report, the province reported 16 new deaths. That's an increase compared to the week before, when there were 11 new deaths reported.

Reporting delays mean that some deaths are not recorded in the week they occur and are reported later when the data becomes available, a spokesperson for the provincial government said in an email.

There were seven new outbreaks declared in that week: three in hospitals and four in long-term care facilities.

Hospital admissions decreased, from 196 to 149. There were 16 admissions to intensive care units.

One of the ICU admissions was a child under 10.

Laboratory tests confirmed 766 new cases of COVID-19, a decrease from 902 the previous week. The official case numbers undercount the true number of infections, due to the lack of access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, the only test recorded by the province.

Manitoba's test positivity rate increased to 18.5 per cent, from 17.6 per cent the week before.

Labs completed a daily average of 832 COVID-19 tests. 

Wastewater surveillance in the city of Winnipeg as of May 2 showed continuing transmission of the coronavirus, with a decrease in activity.