Manitoba reports 16 new coronavirus outbreaks, including 11 in long-term care facilities

Manitoba reported 16 new COVID-19 outbreaks last week, while a wave of hospitalizations appears to have crested, the most recent weekly data release from the provincial government says.

Of the new outbreaks from April 24 to 30, 11 were in long-term care facilities. That's a significant jump compared to any other week in the past month, when the number ranged from zero to seven.

Fewer patients were admitted to hospital last week than in the previous week.

Weekly hospital admissions had risen every week last month. The last time the weekly report showed a drop in hospital numbers was for the period ending March 26.

In the period from April 24 to 30, 185 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, compared to 200 the week before.

Last week, hospital admissions appeared to be levelling off, as the increase over the previous week was smaller than in earlier weeks, although it is too early to determine a trend.

There were 12 admissions of COVID-19 patients to intensive care units, the same as the week before.

The province says there have now been a total of 1,819 COVID-19 deaths, an increase of 27 from the 1,792 in the province's previous report.

However, the province's latest report says there were 14 new COVID-19 deaths during the April 24 to 30 period.

The province often adjusts its data as positive cases from previous weeks are added or removed.

There were 1,042 cases of COVID-19 confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the only form of testing officially recorded by the province. This is an undercount of the true number of cases in the province, due to limited access to PCR tests.

The province's test positivity rate dropped to 20.7 per cent, compared to 23.4 per cent the week before.

Labs completed an average of 840 tests a day, a decline from 955 the previous week.

Of the newly reported cases, more than half (584) were reported in the Winnipeg health region. There were 148 in Prairie Mountain Health, 139 in Southern Health, 88 in the Interlake-Eastern health region and 83 in the Northern Health Region.

Wastewater surveillance in Winnipeg, as of April 21, indicated ongoing transmission of COVID-19, with generalized stabilization, the report said.

Outbreaks

The 16 newly reported outbreaks were at the following locations:

• Kildonan Personal Care Centre.
• Grace General Hospital.
• Douglas Campbell Lodge, Unit C.
• Misericordia Health Centre, transitional care, Unit C5.
• Victoria General Hospital.
• Deer Lodge Centre, Lodge 2 East.
• Misericordia Place.
• Northern Lights Manor.
• St. Claude Health Centre.
• Boyne Valley Lodge.
• Maples Long Term Care Home , Floor 1 East.
• Maples Long Term Care Home, Floor 2 West.
• Bethesda Place, Prairie Rose Unit.
• Portage District General Hospital, Rehab Unit.
• Concordia Hospital, N1 North.
• Concordia Hospital, N3 West.