Manitoba saw only 31 new cases of COVID-19 reported July 12, about half as many as the previous day and a third as many as on July 10.
181 new cases of the virus were identified in the province over the weekend and on Monday, including 87 on Saturday and 63 on Sunday.
Twenty of Monday’s cases were in Winnipeg, with four in the Interlake-Eastern health region, three in the north and two each in the Prairie Mountain and southern health regions.
Two more deaths as a result of the virus were announced July 12, the 1,161st and 1,162nd deaths related to COVID in the province since the pandemic began.
There were 135 people in Manitoba hospitals due to the virus July 12, including 33 in intensive care. Another three Manitobans were in intensive care units in Ontario as a result of their infections. Eight northern residents were in hospital due to the virus on Monday, two of them in intensive care.
The five-day test positivity rate was five per cent.
Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin highlighted some statistics during his now-weekly COVID-19 press conference on Monday, noting that the number of Manitobans admitted to hospital in June was down 45 per cent from the previous month, a drop he increased in large part to more people being vaccinated.
Of those admitted to hospital in June, 74 per cent had not had a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 22 per cent had received their first dose less than two weeks before getting infected and being admitted into hospital.
“You can see the incontrovertible evidence of the value of vaccines right now in Manitoba,” Roussin said. “Week over week, we’re seeing a decline in numbers. We’re also going to see a decline in severe outcomes.”
Roussin also said details would be released later this week about how public health orders will change for the next stage of the government’s reopening plan.
“We’re going to continue to be ahead of scheduled in our reopening plans,” he said. “Manitobans have put us in a spot now where we’re going to be loosening those restrictions.”
