The province has announced that COVID-19 bulletins will only be issued on Thursdays. With that in mind, PembinaValleyOnline will also move to publishing COVID-19 updates only on Thursdays, to coincide with the adjustment to the release schedule. 

Public health officials advise 11 new deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

a male in his 90s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Saturday);
a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
a male in his 80s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud region (reported Saturday);
a male in his 60s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud region (reported Saturday);
a male in his 60s from the Northern health region (reported Sunday);
a female in her 90s from the Prairie Mountain Health region and linked to the outbreak at The Sherwood personal care home (reported Sunday);
a male in his 90s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at Tuxedo Villa personal care home (reported Wednesday);
a female in her 40s from the Prairie Mountain Health region and linked to the outbreak at Brandon Regional Health Centre (reported Wednesday);
a female in her 90s from Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Thursday);
a female in her 30s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday); and
a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday).

In total, the province is reporting 165 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing Manitoba's total active case count to 6,968. There are 459 total COVID-19 hospitalizations in Manitoba, 180 of which are active cases. As well, there are 29 COVID-related ICU patients in the province - 16 of which are active cases. The provincial test positivity rate is 12.5%

Manitoba continues to report on the recorded number of COVID-19 cases. However, it is important to note this data is limited and should be used with caution. It includes cases confirmed by a PCR test as well as rapid tests given by health-care professionals. Positive test results from rapid antigen tests, which people generally do at home, are not collected or reported. As a result, these numbers are an under-reporting of COVID-19 in the community.

Information about COVID-19 in Manitoba is updated on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. at:

Case data: https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/apps/manitoba-covid-19/
COVID-19 vaccination coverage: https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/apps/manitoba-covid-19-vaccinations-dashboard-1/
Outbreaks: www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/prs/index.html

Key Updates

Public health officials are highlighting the following trends. As of March 2, Manitoba saw:

139 new hospitalizations, a 23.6 per cent decrease from the previous week, and
13 new ICU cases, an 18.2 per cent decrease from the previous week.

As compared to people with three doses of the vaccine, the Province says those who are not fully vaccinated are:

five times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19,
six times as likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit, and
seven times as likely to die with COVID-19.

Vaccine

Manitoba now has a sufficient supply of Pfizer vaccine. Individuals who previously received Pfizer or Moderna can choose either vaccine for their next dose, as both are safe, effective, and available.

The vaccine clinic at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg remains open, with appointments and walk-ins available. The provincial call centre and online booking system is still taking appointments for many locations.

Meantime, the province is distributing over four million rapid tests to retail partners across Manitoba. To date, eight retail chains have signed on to the program, including Co‑op (42 locations), Loblaw/Shoppers Drug Mart (59 locations), London Drugs (one location), Rexall (18 locations), Save On Foods (5 locations), Safeway, Sobeys and IGA (40 locations), Walmart (16 locations) and North West Company (29 locations). Supplies are expected to be in place at all participating locations by early next week.

An additional 18,000 tests are being distributed to 18 public library locations in Winnipeg. Kits contain five tests per bag and people can receive up to two bags per family. Asymptomatic people can pick these up to use in the future when they or a household member develop symptoms. For a full list of participating partners, visit www.manitoba.ca/covid19/testing/rat.html.

As of March 15, public health will no longer require people who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate. Further guidance will be provided, however it will continue to be recommended that people with symptoms should stay home when they are sick.

Also, as of March 15, public health will no longer conduct case investigations of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Individuals will continue to be notified of their test results.

Individuals who have been tested for COVID-19 are now able to access all past COVID-19 test results at the Shared Health portal at https://sharedhealthmb.ca/covid19/test-results/. Previously, only the most current test results were available. Self-administered rapid antigen test results are not available through the portal. Individuals who experience an issue accessing their records can request support at https://forms.gov.mb.ca/covid-immunization-record-request/index.html.

Enforcement

The Manitoba government is also providing an update on ongoing enforcement efforts to protect Manitobans from the spread of COVID-19. A total of 1,102 inspections occurred, which resulted in nine warnings and 23 tickets issued for the week of Feb 21-27, including:

one $298 ticket to an individual for failure to wear a mask in an indoor public place;
one $8,550 ticket to an individual for the Federal Quarantine Act; and
21 $5,000 tickets to businesses.

Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly at: https://manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments/index.html#cdr.

Tickets issued by health region include:

zero tickets in Interlake-Eastern (zero per cent);
zero tickets in Northern (zero per cent);
zero tickets in Prairie Mountain Health (zero per cent);
23 tickets in Southern Health-Sante Sud (100 per cent); and
zero tickets in Winnipeg (zero per cent).