6 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Manitoba, 1 more person in ICU

Six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Manitoba, and one more is in intensive care, the province announced Friday.

The new cases area woman in her 20s, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 50s from the Interlake-Eastern Health region; two men in their 30s from the Prairie Mountain Health region; and a male between the ages of 10 and 19 from the Winnipeg health region, the province said in its daily news bulletin.

One of those people went to Blazers Mini Mart in Minnedosa, Man., on July 25, the bulletin said. Another case, identified Thursday, went to Asian Spices of Brandon on July 22 and 23.

Anyone considered close contacts of a COVID-19 case in Manitoba will hear from public health officials and be told to self-isolate. People who wereat those stores on those days don't need to self-isolate, but should monitor for symptoms.

Anyone who develops symptoms should self-isolate and contact Health Links online or by phone (204-788-8200or1-888-315-9257), the bulletin said. More information is available on the province's website.

No additional information about Friday's new cases was provided.

Health officials are still investigating how those people contracted the virus and whether they may have spread it to anyone else. More details will be shared only if there's a public health risk, the bulletin said.

Six people are now in hospital with the illness caused by the new coronavirus in Manitoba, five of whom are in intensive care.

The update brings the total number of cases identified in the province to 415. Of those, 70 are active.

Positivity rate stays low

The province's five-day test positivity rate a rolling average of the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive remains at 0.4 per cent as of Friday, the bulletin said.

To date, 337 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the province, the bulletin said.

Of the new COVID-19 cases announced earlier this week, at least four are close contacts of known cases and three are related to travel, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said on Thursday.

Only three of the cases announced in the past week have been deemed community spread, meaning health officials can't trace the illness back to a source like travel or exposure to someone sick. Roughly 11 per cent of Manitoba's active cases fall into that category right now, Roussin said.

On Tuesday, Manitoba announced its eighth death linked to COVID-19. The man who died was in his 70s and from the Southern Health region.

He was not in the hospital and was considered a new case of COVID-19, the province said on Tuesday.

On Thursday, 1,073 more tests for the illness were done in Manitoba. There have now been 88,621tests completed in the province since early February.

The province's next news conference will be pushed forward to Aug. 4 because of the holiday Monday, the bulletin said.