The number of new cases of COVID-19 continues to soar in Canada. Yet, in Manitoba, case counts remain steady.

According to Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, our nation is now seeing about 4,300 new cases of the virus each day. Only a small percentage of those new cases are in Manitoba.

The Government of Canada is reporting Saskatchewan had 460 new cases on Thursday, while Alberta had 1,160 new cases. That same day, Manitoba saw only 67. In fact, from British Columbia to Quebec, no other province reported as few new cases on Thursday as Manitoba, with Saskatchewan reporting the second-fewest total.

When you dive a little deeper into Manitoba's numbers, you see Steinbach as the district with the highest number of active cases in Manitoba. As of Friday, Steinbach has 29 active cases, followed by Brandon with 26, Hanover with 25, Fort Garry with 23 and then The Pas/ OCN/ Kelsey with 21.

Yet, these numbers are down considerably when you compare what was felt in Manitoba last November during the 2nd wave. Back then there were as many as 364 active cases in Steinbach, with public health officials announcing dozens of new cases every day. In fact, on November 17th, there were 49 new cases announced for Steinbach.

On Friday, the province announced 60 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, bringing the total to 60,000 since the start of the pandemic. There are now 499 active cases in our province.

There are 66 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 including 34 people with active COVID-19 as well as 32 people who are no longer infectious. As well, a total of 15 Manitoba patients are receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including ten people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as five people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care.

Meanwhile, 84.8 per cent of eligible Manitobans have now received one dose of COVID-19, while 79.9 per cent have received two doses. The vaccine uptake for each district in the southeast is as follows: