COVID indicators getting worse in Manitoba, but modelling shows hospitalization plateau, Roussin says
CBC
Pandemic indicators in Manitoba show signs of increasing transmission, but long-term modelling continues to show hospital admissions on a plateau, the province's chief public health officer said Thursday.
Dr. Brent Roussin held a news conference Thursday about the latest COVID-19 trends.
Wastewater signals are trending upward, test positivity rates are rising and hospitalizations are increasing, mostly among those 80 and older, he said.
"We've seen those increases in cases, transmission, wastewater, we've heard of the increases in hospitalizations, but our modelling continues to show a relative plateau in admissions," Roussin said.
The current increase is being driven by the BA.2 Omicron subvariant, which health officials believe currently accounts for about 60 per cent of cases in Manitoba.
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Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, is giving a COVID-19 update on Thursday.
It's the first time since March 16 that Roussin will address reporters.
CBC Manitoba is live streaming the 12:30 p.m. news conference here, on Facebook and on CBC Gem.
Data from the provincial government says Omicron's BA.2 subvariant appears to be the dominant coronavirus strain in Manitoba.
Approximately 200 positive COVID-19 tests are being sequenced by the province each week, which is about 10 to 15 per cent of all positive test results, a provincial spokesperson said in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.
The most recent batch of tests showed a 60 per cent positivity rate for the BA.2 subvariant.
Manitoba posted its last daily COVID-19 data update on March 25. A weekly epidemiology report is now being released by the province every Thursday.
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