11 Manitobans died from COVID-19 first week of May
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/05/2022 (1392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba reported 11 COVID-19 deaths and 11 outbreaks in long-term facilities during the first week of May.
The data released by the province in the most recent weekly COVID-19 report shows 11 deaths were reported from May 1- 7, bringing the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Manitoba to 1,847.
The province also reported 11 outbreaks in long-term care facilities during that time period. Russell Personal Care Home and Minnedosa Personal Care Home are among the facilities affected.
Also during that week, there were 196 hospital admissions and 13 intensive care unit admissions, an increase from the 173 hospitalizations and 12 ICU admissions reported the week before.
The province reported 902 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases during the first week of May. However, public health officials have said in previous comments the actual number of cases is likely higher as they do not count rapid tests.
Dr. Derry Decter of Rosser Medical Clinic in Brandon agrees cases are likely higher and could be in the tens of thousands, but added he is very concerned about how the province is handling testing for the virus now compared to previous waves.
“I really wonder why they aren’t doing contact tracing now,” he said. “I could understand when there were a lot of people and it was difficult to get accurate numbers. Now there aren’t as many and now would be a good time to do contact tracing to get accurate numbers.”
The Manitoba government stopped contact tracing for most situations this past December, stating on its website this was over concerns the omicron variant would cause a surge in cases that would exceed public health notification resources. Only schools, personal-care homes, shelters and child-care facilities will work with the facility to notify close contacts of confirmed positive COVID cases. In all other situations, it would be up to the person who tested positive to notify their close contacts.
An increase in deaths isn’t unusual at the end of a wave as they are often a lagging indicator, Decter said.
As a physician, he records when a patient tests positive through a rapid test in their charts, but that won’t be recorded by the province. Even then, rapid tests are not as accurate, but could still be a good tool in tracing the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 virus has a reinfection rate, or R-rate, of about four to 10 people, Decter said, meaning every infected person will spread the virus to about four to 10 people.
In previous comments, Decter said the high vaccine rate has prevented hospitalizations and deaths from skyrocketing. The data showed 83 per cent of eligible Manitobans have been partially vaccinated, while 79.6 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
» kmckinley@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @karenleighmcki1