Manitoba has seen a very slight increase in the last week in the number of patients in ICU with COVID-19, according to the province's now-weekly update.

Last week Thursday, the province was reporting 17 ICU patients, today that number sits at 18. In the last week, there have been 11 new ICU cases, an increase of 57 per cent from the previous week.

Meanwhile, last Thursday there were 395 Manitobans in hospital with COVID-19. Today, that number is 369. In the last week, there have been 128 new hospitalizations, an increase of five per cent from the previous week.

However, the province has stated that most of those in ICU and hospital with COVID-19 are there for other reasons but then also happened to test positive.

The number of Manitobans who have died with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic has reached 1,739. The death toll has risen by 15 in the last week, including:

  • a female in her 100s from Southern Health (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
  • a male in his 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
  • a male in his 90s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
  • a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
  • a female in her 70s from Southern Health and linked to the outbreak at Eastview Place (reported Saturday);
  • a male in his 90s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a female in her 50s from Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a female in her 90s from Prairie Mountain Heath region and linked to the Dr. Gendreau Personal Care Home (reported Wednesday);
  • a male in his 70s from Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a male in his 70s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Thursday);
  • a female in her 60s from Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Thursday);
  • a male in his 50s from the Northern health region, linked to the outbreak at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg (reported Thursday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at Calvary Place Personal Care home (reported Thursday); and
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at River Park Gardens Personal Care Home (reported Thursday).

Another 1,020 tests were performed on Wednesday. Manitoba's test positivity rate is now 13.1 per cent. The five day test positivity rate per region based on Tuesday's data is:

  • 13.9 per cent in the Prairie Mountain Health region
  • 14.2 per cent in the Winnipeg health region
  • 14.6 per cent in the Southern Health region
  • 18.4 per cent in the Interlake-Eastern health region
  • 23.6 per cent in the Northern health region

The provincial vaccine site in Selkirk closes on March 26, followed by the Steinbach site in mid-April.

Vaccine-related dashboards will be no longer be updated after March 31, as COVID-19 immunization data is also included in the weekly epidemiology reports.