Omicron subvariant BA.2 makes up 12% of Manitoba cases, as province reports 4 more COVID-19 deaths

Manitoba health officials say the more contagious BA.2 subvariant of Omicronnow makes up about 12 per cent of current coronavirus cases as the province reports four more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.

Hospitalizations rose seven to 387.

Of those, 22 are in intensive care units, a decrease of two since Tuesday.

The province's five-day test positivity rate dropped to 13.1 per cent, from 13.5 per cent.

Daily case numbers remain consistently in the triple digits, despite a couple of dips below 100 in recent weeks, with 137 new confirmed cases reportedWednesday. This is an undercount due to limited access to polymerase chain reaction tests, the only test results the province tracks.

Currently, 5,042 cases are listed as active, but again, this is an undercount.

Labs completed 1,117 tests on Tuesday.

The deaths reported on Wednesday bring the province's total to 1,735.

As of Monday, a total of 43 cases of the BA.2 variant have been confirmed in Manitoba, although this is also likely an undercount.

There are currently93 patients in intensive care units in Manitoba, down from 95 on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, 86.3 per cent of eligible Manitobans had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 82.7 per cent had two doses, and 44.5 per cent had received a third dose.