Manitoba extends COVID-19 health orders for 1 more week
CBC
Manitoba's current COVID-19 public health orders will continue for at least another week, officials announced on Friday.
It is necessary to keep the orders in place as the province continues to assess the spread and impact of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said at a news conference.
"As we all learn to live with the virus, it is still critical that we stay the course over the next week. There are signs of stabilization, but we need more data to fully assess our next steps and implement initiatives that support our pandemic response," Gordon said.
The current health orders first went into effect on Dec. 21 and were extended in early January. They were set to expire Feb. 1 but will now be extended until 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 8.
Manitoba remains at the restricted or orange level under the province's pandemic response system.
The latest provincial data indicates severe outcomes from the spread of the Omicron variant may have peaked, a news release said Friday. Although admissions to hospitals and intensive care units due to COVID-19 remain high, they are either stable or slowly beginning to decline, it said.
"We are nearing a critical juncture," Roussin said.
"Based on several data points, it appears the Omicron wave may have peaked or is in the process of peaking or plateauing in Manitoba. But there is still a significant spread of Omicron in our community so, certainly, the health-care system is feeling those effects."
The overall number of patients in ICUs provincewide — both those with COVID-19 and those who do not have the illness — reached a new high for the fourth wave of 111 on Thursday. Of those, 51 had COVID-19.
On Friday, the total number of patients in ICU was down by one to 110, a spokesperson from Shared Health said in an email. That number far exceeds the province's pre-pandemic baseline ICU capacity of 72.
Earlier this week, it appeared at least one measure of the pandemic was offering some optimism the present wave is receding in Manitoba.
Wastewater monitoring done by the National Microbiology Laboratory suggested the virus that causes COVID-19 was found in the largest quantities in Winnipeg at the beginning of January.
In his weekly COVID-19 news update on Wednesday, Roussin said it's still a bit early to say, definitively, whether the Omicron wave is ebbing. He said it is necessary to look at several measures, including test positivity, the trend in PCR testing and hospitalizations, as well as wastewater.
On Friday, however, new data about Winnipeg wastewater suggested the viral count may once again be increasing, the province said in its news release.
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