Manitoba is reporting 147 new cases of COVID-19 in our province today. Of those, 79 are individuals who are not vaccinated, 64 are fully vaccinated and the remaining four are partially vaccinated.
There are 153 Manitobans currently in hospital with COVID-19, with 107 of those individuals considered active cases. There are 22 patients in ICU with COVID-19, including 17 with active cases.
Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin was asked today whether Manitoba is considering tighter restrictions.
"What we find right now is that the severe outcomes are what would really drive us to be concerned enough to implement any other restrictions," notes Dr. Roussin. "So we don't have any immediate plans on that."
Dr. Roussin suggests that COVID-19 is spread in indoor public gatherings, noting the unvaccinated are at much greater risk of acquiring the virus and having severe outcomes.
"So any restrictions going forward needs to focus on those types of ideas," he says.
Meanwhile, of the 147 new cases today, 71 are within the Southern Health region. The most recent test positivity rate given for Southern Health was 14.4 per cent, provided last week Wednesday.
"It's certainly a level of concern right now when you see a test positivity at that level," he says. "So I wouldn't say I'm confident that no further restrictions will be required. I'm certainly concerned about that level of transmission we're seeing, especially in the Southern Health region at this point."