Dr. Brent Roussin gave a press conference on Thursday on the latest COVID-19 trends, the first time since March 16 that Roussin addressed reporters. Sewage signals are on the rise, test scores are rising and hospitalizations are rising, mostly between the ages of 80 and over, he said. “We have seen these increases in cases, transmission, sewage, we have heard of increases in hospitalizations, but our modeling continues to show a relative plateau in imports,” Roussin said. The current increase is due to the secondary variant of Omicron BA.2, which health officials estimate currently accounts for about 60 percent of cases in Manitoba. Data from the provincial government showed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 appears to be the dominant coronavirus strain in Manitoba. About 200 positive COVID-19 tests are registered by the province each week, which is about 10 to 15 percent of all positive test results, a county spokesman told CBC News on Wednesday. Manitoba published its latest daily COVID-19 data update on March 25th. A weekly epidemiological report is now published by the province every Thursday. During the week ending April 2, 141 people were admitted to hospitals with coronavirus, up from 111 admitted last week. The county’s positive test rate rose from 13.9 percent to 18.6 percent, and the county confirmed 1,359 cases, an increase of 380, or 39 percent, from 979 reported last week. The move to the weekly report has been criticized by members of the provincial opposition and on the internet by health professionals, but Prime Minister Heather Stefanson said the weekly updates were enough to keep Manitobans informed of COVID trends. Rousseau defended the change of reference on Thursday. “We are not going to treat this virus the same way we have treated it forever for the last two years and at some point we need to move away from this intense reporting of less frequent updates.” The province is in transition, he said, but will not say the virus has reached an endemic stage in Manitoba. “I think we are still managing this in ways that are not necessarily just an endemic virus. We are constantly increasing our suitability for vaccinations, we still have messages, strong messages for humans,” he said. The province also expanded its eligibility for fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. All people aged 70 and over, indigenous people aged 50 and over, and all residents of private care homes and supported living facilities can be vaccinated six months after their last booster dose. The move is based on recommendations from the National Immunization Advisory Committee (NACI), which advised provincial governments on Tuesday to prepare to offer second boosts.
COVID-19 briefing on Manitoba
Dr. Brent Roussin, head of provincial public health, briefs on COVID-19 in Manitoba 0:00
