Severe COVID-19 outcomes increase, more virus detected in Winnipeg wastewater, latest Manitoba report says

Manitoba reported more severe outcomes from COVID-19 in its latest update, and more of the virus detected in Winnipeg wastewater as of late August.

The province'slatest report, which was released Thursday and covers the week of Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, saysthree more deaths have been added to Manitoba's pandemic total, bringing that number to 2,118.

That's a smaller increase than the 10 deaths recorded in last week's update.

During the latest reporting period, 70 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, up from 67 the week before.

Of those, 16 were admitted to intensive care units, up from nine the previous week.

As of Aug. 30, wastewater surveillance data for Winnipeg indicated ongoing activity of COVID-19,with activity increasing in the last week of the month, the report says.

The number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Manitoba is down slightlyfrom the previous week, with 475 for the week ending Sept. 3compared to 622 the week before.

However, those numbers are believed to be a significant undercount of the true number of infections, due to limited access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the only type of test recorded by Manitoba public health.

The province's weekly test positivity rate went upslightly to 22.5 per cent, compared to 22.1 the week before.