COVID-19 hospitalizations drop in Manitoba, three more deaths reported Wednesday

Manitoba's top doctor says hospitalization rates remain high but are stable – though it is too early to tell where the province is in the pandemic's current wave.

Manitoba's top doctor says hospitalization rates remain high but are stable – though it is too early to tell where the province is in the pandemic's current wave.

The total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped on Wednesday. According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, there were 720 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday – down from 729 hospitalizations on Tuesday.

Of the total hospitalizations, 655 people have active cases. The province is reporting 49 COVID-19 patients are in the intensive care unit, including 44 who have active cases.

"At this point, we do see that hospitalization rates are high, although stable. The same goes for ICU admissions at this point," said Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer.

"It is still early to describe where definitively we are in this wave. We do know for sure that the virus is very much present in our communities and circulating."

As of Wednesday, the province said 85.5 per cent of eligible Manitobans had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 79.0 per cent have two doses and 39.0 per cent have three doses.

"Currently, children in the five to 11 age group are lagging a bit behind in their uptake of the vaccine so far and are only beginning to get their second doses," said Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine implementation task force.