Manitoba reports 99 new cases, 1 death due to COVID-19 over 3 days

Manitoba reported 99 new cases and a death due to COVID-19 during a three-day span.

The update on Monday has data from three days: 29 new cases were reported for Saturday, 45 for Sunday and 25 for Monday.Manitoba no longer updates its COVID-19 dashboard on weekends and holidays.

A woman in her 60s from Winnipeg died on the weekend due to an infection from an unspecified variant of concern.

The provincial test positivity rate has risen to 2.5 per cent from 1.9 per cent on Aug. 6, the last day it was reported.

The number of people in hospital due to the coronavirus is 89, down from 92 a few days ago. The number of people in intensive care is 14, down one since Friday.

Among the 25 cases reported for Monday, the majority are in the Winnipeg and Southern health regions, where eight cases each were identified.

Four cases were found in the Northern Health Region, three in Interlake-Eastern and two in Prairie Mountain Health.

Most new cases are in unvaccinated people, said Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer.Those people also make up most of the severe cases requiring hospitalization right now.

So far, 80.5 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one dose, and 72.9 per cent have received two, according to the provincial immunization dashboard.

"Manitobans have been leading the charge here," said Atwal during a Monday news conference.

The latest data on breakthrough infections someoneimmunized who still got COVID-19 suggest the fully vaccinated only make up a small fraction of cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

Of the 852,485 Manitobans to be fully immunized, 435 have become infected or 0.0005 per cent seven days or more after their second dose. Over seventy per cent of those breakthrough infections occurred in people between the ages of 20 and 29.

Of the thousands of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Manitoba since the pandemic began, 46 were fully vaccinated individuals.

Twelve fully immunized Manitobans went on to get COVID-19 and died, all of them over the age of 60.As of Monday,the total number of Manitobans who have died from COVID-19 is 1,184.

New app

Manitoba also launched a new app Monday for fully vaccinated Manitobans that will serve the same purpose as the existing provincial immunization cards. It will show the person's first and last name and a QR code that can be scanned via the Manitoba Verifier app.

The announcement comes aftermost mandated restrictions for businesses were lifted on the weekend.

Almost all restrictions are removed for private gatherings and most businesses,including hair salons, libraries, retail stores, malls and gyms.

Museums, galleries and movie theatres can still only have 50 per cent capacity but can open up to unvaccinated people.

The new health orders also allow more people at religious services, weddings and funerals.

Restaurants and bars no longer need to ensure space between tables and people dining are not required to eat only with those in their household.

Masks are no longer required but are strongly recommended for people who are unvaccinated. They are still necessary when going intohospitals, personal care homes and some other health-care settings.

Masks will be strongly recommended, but not mandatory, when students return to in-class learning on Sept.7.

The province is still working on advice for schools to minimize risk of spread, Atwal said.

Provincial modelling on the highly contagious delta variant is also still a work in progress, he said.

Delta variant modelling data for Manitoba remains incomplete, although the recently relaxed public health orders were created using many other variables and models, according to Atwal.

Experts anticipate a delta-driven fourth wave in the province sometime this fall, largely amongunvaccinated people.

The province also moved toa lower level in its pandemic response systemon Saturday.

In announcing that decision last week, the province said most markers suggest the spread of COVID-19 in Manitoba has slowed to a point where it is safe to downgradefrom therestricted (orange) level to the caution (yellow) level.

The Manitoba government no longerholds news conferences daily to update the COVID case numbers, although data isavailable on its online dashboardfrom Monday to Friday.