There are 25 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba on Friday and one more person has died from the illness, the province's online dashboard says.

Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate dropped from 2.6 per cent on Thursday to 1.9 on Friday, the dashboard says.

There are now 71 COVID-19 patients in hospital in Manitoba, down from 75 Thursday. Eleven of those patients are still in intensive care, the dashboard says.

Manitoba has now reported 1,184 deaths linked to COVID-19.

The province also reported 43 newly identified cases of more contagious coronavirus variants on Friday.

The number of delta variant cases rose by two, the number of alpha variant cases rose by four and the number of unspecified variant cases is up 37.

Federal government to require vaccinations for all federal public servants, air and train passengers

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced today that the federal government will soon require that all public servants be vaccinated — a mandate that he said will also be implemented by Crown corporations and other federally regulated businesses in the coming weeks.

In recent weeks, governments and private businesses have announced their support and planned implementation of mandatory vaccination policies. 

COVID Ont Kingston Clinic 20210702

The federal government announced a sweeping new mandate requiring all federal government employees and those working in federally regulated industries, including air and train travel, to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Federal government announces vaccine mandate for government employees

Manitoba sees 1st cases of new delta subvariant among newly identified cases

Manitoba is reporting a spike in newly identified cases of the highly contagious delta, or B.1617.2 variant as well as the first three cases of a delta sublineage.

An air traveler takes a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test before boarding an El Al flight to Israel at JFK International Airport in New York, U.S., August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/EL AL ARLNS

An air traveller gets a COVID-19 test. Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate has been hovering between two and three per cent since the end of July.

The province's seven-day new case average still hovers just above 32.

The province doesn't have news conferences or send out news releases on Fridays, but some numbers are still available on its COVID-19 data dashboards.

News releases come out on Mondays and Thursdays. That means some information not included in the dashboard — like the age and health region of the person who died — won't be announced until after the weekend.

It also means Winnipeg's test positivity rate won't be updated until then. On Thursday, that number sat at 1.8 per cent.

As of Friday, Manitoba has fully vaccinated 73.8 per cent of its eligible population against the illness, the province's online vaccine dashboard says. Among those with at least one dose, that number remains 80.7 per cent.

Steinbach outreach centre hopes barbecue, COVID-19 vaccination clinic will help break down barriers

Steinbach Community Outreach is holding a community barbecue, with the hope of reaching people who might be hesitant or face barriers when it comes to getting the jab. 

A closeup of a male medical professional in a white coat and blue medical mask injecting a COVID-19 vaccine in a person's upper left arm.

People who are still unvaccinated have concerns that will likely take multiple conversations to address, says Sabina Vohra-Miller, founder of Unambiguous Science.

COVID Cda 20210410

A doctor administers a COVID-19 vaccine in an April 2021 file photo. In Manitoba, 80.6 per cent of those 12 and up had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But in the Steinbach health district, that number drops to 59.8 per cent.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Manitoba has identified 57,972 COVID-19 cases.

Of those people, 56,201 are listed as recovered and 586 are still deemed active cases, the dashboard says.

The province completed 2,103 more tests for the illness on Thursday, bringing the total number of swabs done in Manitoba to 893,499.

People walk down a busy sidewalk, with some wearing masks. While Manitoba still strongly recommends the use of masks, the province recently removed mask mandates for most businesses.

25 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death reported in Manitoba

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