Public health officals are reporting 25 new cases of COVID-19 in the province today - seven of which are in the Southern Health region.

Another Manitoban has died with COVID, a man in his 40s from the Winnipeg region linked to the B-1-1-7 variant.

Today's data shows 15 active cases in Portage, four in rural Portage, zero in North Norfolk, two in Cartier, one in Carman, one in Grey, zero cases in Mandonald, zero in Whitemud, and 15 in Seven Regions.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4.5 per cent provincially and four per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 25 new cases of the virus have been identified. However, two cases have been removed due to data correction. This brings the net-new number of cases today to 23 and the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 56,943.

Of the 25 cases reported today, the COVID-19 data shows:
• zero new cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• four new cases in the Northern health region;
• one new case in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
• seven new cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and
• 13 new cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The data also shows:
• 982 active cases and 54,798 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 133 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 in Manitoba and neighbouring provinces including:
- 51 people in hospital in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 80 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious, amounting to a total of 131 hospitalizations;
• a total of 34 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including:
- nine people in intensive care units in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 23 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, amounting to a total of 32 ICU patients in Manitoba; and
- two Manitoba patients in intensive care units outside the province, both of whom are in Ontario;
• 43 patients previously receiving care in an out-of-province ICU have now been returned to Manitoba hospitals for further care; and
- no COVID-19 patients were transported out of province for care yesterday;
• 972 laboratory tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 847,831; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,163.

Possible exposure locations are listed online by region at the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System webpage. For up-to-date information on possible public exposures to COVID-19 in regions, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event and click on your region.

Additional data on variants of concern is updated from Tuesday to Saturday at https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/. Data related to COVID-19, outbreaks and some downloadable and historic data can also be found at this site.

For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, including the online screening tool, testing criteria and locations, self-isolation requirements, public health fundamentals and the provincial response level on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.