Public health officials advise two new deaths in persons with COVID-19 are being reported today:

A male in his 30s from the Interlake-Eastern health region linked to an unspecified variant of concern; and
a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region linked to the B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant of concern.
The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 5.6 per cent provincially and 5.5 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 71 new cases of the virus have been identified. However, one cases was removed due to a data correction. This brings the net-new number of cases today to 70 and the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 56,586.

Of the 71 cases reported today, the COVID-19 data shows:

19 new cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
four new cases in the Northern health region;
four new cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
12 new cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region; and
32 new cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The data also shows:

990 active cases and 54,442 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
152 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 in Manitoba and neighbouring provinces, including:
64 people in hospital in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 83 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious, amounting to a total of 147 hospitalizations;
a total of 38 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including:
13 people in intensive care units in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 20 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, amounting to a total of 33 ICU patients in Manitoba; and
five Manitoba patients in intensive care units outside the province, all of whom are in Ontario;
40 patients previously receiving care in an out-of-province ICU have now been returned to Manitoba hospitals for further care; and
no COVID-19 patients were transported out of province for care yesterday.
1639 laboratory tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 839,643; and
the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,154.
Manitobans who are fully-immunized can apply for a Manitoba immunization card. People can visit https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/immunization-record.html to apply. Effective today, individuals without access to the internet can call 1-844-MAN-VACC (1-844-626-8222) and follow the prompts to request their immunization card.

Possible exposure locations are listed online by region at the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System webpage. For up-to-date information on possible public exposures to COVID-19 in regions, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event and click on your region.

Additional data on variants of concern is updated from Tuesday to Saturday at: https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/. Data related to COVID-19, outbreaks and some downloadable and historic data can also be found at this site.