252 patients in Manitoba hospitals with COVID-19 Wednesday as case counts soar
CBC
There are now 252 people with COVID-19 in Manitoba hospitals, an increase of one, as case counts continue to soar, health officials said Wednesday.
The province reports 1,790 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths on Wednesday. The total number of deaths in the province related to COVID-19 is now 1,402.
The number of reported active cases in Manitoba is now 18,844.
More to come
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Health officials in Manitoba are scheduled to give an update Wednesday on COVID-19 and vaccinations after the province reported nearly 3,500 cases over the past two days.
CBC Manitoba will live stream the 12:30 p.m. news conference here, on Facebook and on CBC Gem.
Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer, will be joined by Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of Manitoba's COVID-19 vaccine implementation task force.
Manitoba's online dashboard posted 1,757 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, after reporting 1,721 on Monday.
The five-day test positivity rate for Manitoba was 39.5 per cent as of Tuesday. A month earlier it was just above five per cent.
In light of the rising cases, primarily driven by the Omicron variant, the provincial government announced Tuesday that most students from kindergarten to Grade 12 will do one week of remote learning after the holiday break, which already had been extended two days.
Premier Heather Stefanson said the week of online learning gives school divisions time to address expected staffing shortages due to sickness and to develop plans to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The province already delayed the return to school after the winter break from Jan. 6 to Jan. 10 to assess the impact of Omicron. Students will now go back into classrooms on Jan. 17.
Medical-grade masks will be required for staff when classes resume. Students will be asked to wear well-fitting masks with at least three layers.