COVID indicators getting worse in Manitoba, but modelling shows hospitalization plateau, Roussin says

Pandemic indicators in Manitoba show signs of increasing transmission, but long-term modelling continues to show hospital admissions ona plateau, the province's chief public health officer said Thursday.

Dr. Brent Roussin held a news conference Thursday aboutthe latest COVID-19 trends,the first time since March 16 that Roussin addressed reporters.

Wastewater signals are trending upward, test positivity rates are risingand hospitalizations are increasing, mostly among those 80 and older, he said.

"We've seen those increases in cases, transmission, wastewater, we've heard of the increases in hospitalizations, but our modelling continues to show a relative plateau in admissions," Roussin said.

The current increase is being driven by the OmicronBA.2 subvariant, which health officials believe currently accounts for about 60 per cent of cases in Manitoba.

Data from the provincial government has shown Omicron's BA.2 subvariant appears to be the dominant coronavirus strain in Manitoba.

Approximately 200 positive COVID-19 tests are being sequenced by the province each week, which is about 10 to 15 per cent of all positive test results, a provincial spokesperson said in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.

Manitoba posted its last daily COVID-19 data update on March 25. A weekly epidemiology report is now being released by the province every Thursday.

During the week ending April 2,141 people were admitted to hospital with the coronavirus, an increase from 111 admitted the previous week.

COVID-19 transmission on the rise in Manitoba

2 years ago

Duration 2:17

COVID-19 transmission and hospital admissions in Manitoba have increased since public health orders were lifted. But the government has no plans to bring back restrictions. Manitoba's chief public health officer Doctor Brent Roussin expects COVID transmission will keep rising.

A provincial memo obtained by CBC News shows there are 386 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19, up 27 patients from March 25, the last day the province published a COVID information dashboard.

That memo also shows there are 21 COVID patients in intensive care wards, up two since March 25.

The memo also shows six more Manitobans have died from COVID-19 this week, bringing the total COVID death toll in this province to 1,757 since the start of the pandemic.

The province's test-positivity rate rosefrom 13.9 per cent to 18.6 per cent, and the province confirmed1,359 cases, an increase of 380, or 39 per cent, over the 979 cases reported the week before.

The move to weekly reportinghas been criticized by members of the provincial opposition and online by people in the health profession, but Premier Heather Stefanson said the weekly updates are enough to inform Manitobans about COVID trends.

Roussin defended the reporting change on Thursday.

"We're not going to deal with this virus the same way we have for the last two yearsforever, and at some point we have to transition away from that intense data reporting to less frequently updating."

The province is in a transitional stage, he said, but he would not say that the virus hasreached an endemic stagein Manitoba.

"I think we're still managing this in ways that aren't necessarily just an endemic virus. We are constantly increasing our eligibility for vaccinations, we still have messaging, strong messaging for people," he said.

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, criticized the province's decision to scale back its data reporting.

"COVID is still a very real threat to our health-care system. There is an unsustainable burden on our health-caresystem as a direct result of COVID,and the more clarity we have around that situation, the better."

The province on Wednesday alsowidenedeligibility for fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines.Everyone age70 and older, Indigenous people age50 and upandall residents of personal care homes and assisted living facilities can get the shot six months after their last booster.

The move is based on recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which advised provincial governments on Tuesday to prepare to offer second booster doses.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | April 7, 2022:

Manitoba government briefing on coronavirus: April 7

2 years ago

Duration 32:10

Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Thursday, April 7, 2022, 2022.