More than half of the 96 new cases of COVID-19 announced March 17 were in the Northern Regional Health Authority, driven mostly by cases related to the outbreak in Pukatawagan.
Fifty-one of the lab-confirmed cases announced on Wednesday were in the north, including 36 in the Pukatawagan/Mathias Colomb health district, which now has 250 lab-confirmed cases, though the actual number of positive cases is higher based on rapid testing results. There were also six new cases in the Cross Lake/Pimicikamak health district. Winnipeg had 40 new cases March 17 while the southern and Interlake-Eastern health regions had two new cases each and the Prairie Mountain health region one additional case. The net increase on Wednesday was 93 as three previously announced cases were removed from the provincial total due to data corrections.
The five-day test positivity rate dropped to 4.4 on Wednesday, down from more than five per cent the previous day. Hospitalizations and intensive care admissions are also dropping. There are 149 Manitobans in hospital due to the virus, 61 of whom have active infections. Ten of those with active infections are in intensive care, as are 11 people who are no longer considered infectious.
Twenty-six of those hospitalized are from the north and 21 of them have active infections. Five northerners with active infections are in intensive care, as is one person who is no longer considered infectious.
More than 113,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 76,612 first doses and 36,663 doses. About 1,500 doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine have been administered at doctors’ office and pharmacies so far.
Vaccine task force co-lead Dr. Joss Reimer said during a vaccine update March 17 that reports of blood clots among people in Europe who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine do not mean that it is unsafe for Manitobans to get it. She said there are systems in place to track negative outcomes and that the AstraZeneca vaccine being used in Canada is from a different batch than that being used in Europe. She also said her own analysis of the data from Europe indicates that the rate of blood clots among recipients of the vaccine appears to be lower than for the general population.
Reimer also said that vaccines appear to be as effective against the variant of concern first identified in the United Kingdom as they are against the original COVID-19 strain. There appears to be some decreased effectiveness against the variant of concern first identified in South Africa. Nine new samples of the U.K. variant have been detected in the Winnipeg region. There have now ben a total of 52 samples of that variant identified in Manitoba, along with 12 of the South Africa variant.
Vaccine eligibility expanded March 17 to include anyone 73 or older and any First Nations person 53 or older. Reimer said she anticipates that by next week eligibility will include any Manitoban over 65.
The province is launching an ad campaign and a website at protectmb.ca to educate Manitobans about the vaccines.
Vaccination appointments at the Thompson supersite can be booked by calling 1-844-MAN-VACC (1-844-626-8222. Appointments can now be booked online at protectmb.ca or www.manitoba.ca/vaccine using an email address and a health care number.
