Northern Manitoba reported no new cases of COVID-19 Sept. 7 after 17 over the previous four days, including one on Sept. 2, four on Sept. 3, 9 on Sept. 4 and three cases on Sept. 5.
There are currently about 85 active cases in the region, including 49 in the island Lake health district, 19 in the Pas/Opaskwayak/Kelsey health district, four in the Thompson/Mystery Lake health district, three each in the Pukatawagan/Mathias Colomb and Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry/Sherridon health districts and five from unknown health districts.
Manitoba-wide there were 36 new cases of the virus reported Sept. 7, 29 among people who are not fully vaccinated. Over the past five days, 215 cases have been reported in Manitoba, including 56 on Friday, 42 on Saturday, 48 on Sunday and 33 on Monday.
Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal said at a press briefing Sept. 7 that the province is now listing the vaccination status of new cases, active cases and hospital and intensive care unit admissions on its COVID-19 dashboard. Seven of the new cases reported Tuesday involved people who were fully vaccinated and seven others were infections of partially vaccinated people. 22 of Tuesday’s new infections were among unvaccinated people.
“This is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Atwal said.
60 per cent of Manitobans with active cases of COVID-19 are unvaccinated, the dashboard shows, while 81 per cent of those in hospital and 83 per cent of those in intensive care had not received a single dose of vaccine. None of Manitoba’s current ICU patients are fully vaccinated.
Vaccine task force medical lead Dr. Joss Reimer said Tuesday that a new study from the United Kingdom showed that, while the Delta variant is more likely to result in severe outcomes and deaths than the Alpha strain, immunization is generally effective at preventing cases and severe outcomes.
Another study from the United States found that most possible complications that could arise from vaccinations are no more common in those who have been immunized with COVID-19 vaccines than among those who hadn’t, with the exception of myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscle) among young men, though most of those cases were mild.
“The findings really reinforce what we already knew and were reassuring beyond what we already knew,” Reimer said.
Six deaths were reported Sept. 7, four of them among residents of the southern health region. 1,198 Manitobans have died as a result of COVID since the pandemic began.
There are 74 Manitobans in hospital due tp COVID as of Sept. 7, 12 of whom are in ICU. These numbers include seven northern residents in hospital, one of whom is in intensive care.
The five-day test positivity on Tuesday was 2.7 per cent.
Several provisions of the province’s latest public health orders took effect Sept. 7, including limiting the number of people allowed at outdoor gatherings to 500. Museums and galleries are allowed to reopen but must require proof of vaccination from visitors to access indoor areas. Weddings in licensed premises now require guests to show proof of vaccination. Food courts also require proof of vaccination if they choose to allow people to dine in as well as take out.
