Woman in her 50s the 11th Manitoba COVID patient to die in out-of-province ICU

Manitoba ICUs remain overwhelmed, despite improving pandemic picture

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Caption: Eleven of the 57 Manitoba COVID-19 ICU patients transferred out of province have died. (Chaikom/Shutterstock)

A Manitoba COVID-19 patient in her 50s has died in an Ontario intensive care ward — the 11th patient to succumb after being transferred out of province.
Manitoba Shared Health said the woman was transferred to Ontario on May 28 and offered condolences to her family.
Her death will be reflected in Manitoba's pandemic fatality statistics in the coming days, Shared Health said in a statement.
A total of 57 Manitoba COVID-19 patients who required intensive care have been transferred to hospitals in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta since May, when the third wave of the pandemic overwhelmed intensive care wards in Winnipeg and Brandon.
Ten of those patients remain in Ontario hospitals, while 36 patients have been returned to Manitoba.
Intensive care wards in this province continue to be overwhelmed, even as the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital continue to drop.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 121 patients of all diagnoses — COVID-19 patients and non-COVID patients — in Manitoba ICUs. They were capable of treating a total of 72 patients prior to the pandemic, Shared Health said.
There are 59 COVID-19 patients in Manitoba ICUs. Seven of them are under age 40, according to Shared Health.
The total number of Manitoba COVID-19 patients in Canadian ICUs is 69, down from a peak of 109 on June 2.
Other pandemic indicators have improved more quickly.
The seven-day average daily case count in Manitoba is 91, down from a pandemic peak of 482 on May 22.
The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate in this province is 6.2 per cent, down from third-wave high of 14.5 per cent on May 23.