Today’s five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 14.3 per cent provincially. As of 9:30am on March 17, 2022, 247 new cases of the virus have been identified. It is estimated that actual case numbers are eight to 10 times higher than reported due to the rapid spread of the omicron variant and lack of PCR testing done by the province.

Information about COVID-19 in Manitoba is updated weekdays at 12:30 p.m. on these DataMB dashboards:

Key Updates

Starting March 24, information about COVID-19 will be updated in weekly epidemiology reports found at gov.mb.ca. Vaccine dashboards will continue to be updated.

Public health officials are highlighting the following trends. As of March 16, Manitoba saw:

  • 119 new hospitalizations, a 15.6 per cent decrease from the previous week, and
  • seven new ICU cases, a 68.2 per cent decrease from the previous week.

As compared to people with two or more doses of vaccine, those who are not fully vaccinated are:

  • five times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19,
  • seven times as likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit, and
  • nine times as likely to die with COVID-19.

Provincial vaccine sites in Brandon and Morden are now closed to the public. The Selkirk location will close on March 26, followed by the Steinbach site in mid-April. The vaccine site at RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg will remain open to offer vaccines. Vaccines also continue to be available at medical clinics and pharmacies throughout the province. For additional updates on vaccine locations and hours or to use the vaccine finder, visit manitoba.ca.

On Sunday, March 20, 18 provincial COVID-19 testing sites will close and services will be consolidated at other locations. These sites remain open:

  • Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Testing Site (445 King St.); Walk in Clinic Garrick Centre (330 Garry St.); Testing Centre (604 St. Mary’s Rd.); Dakota Medical Centre (17-845 Dakota St.); and Minor Illness and Injury Clinic Drive-Thru Testing Site (2055 Notre Dame Ave.);
  • Prairie Mountain Health: Dauphin Testing Centre (301 Main St. N) and Brandon Drive-Thru Testing Site (Van Horne Ave. E.);
  • Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority: Selkirk Testing Site (100 Easton Dr.);
  • Southern Health-Santé Sud: Winkler Testing Centre (Southland Mall, R10-777 Norquay Dr.); Steinbach Community Testing Site (365 Reimer Ave.); and
  • Northern Regional Health Authority: Flin Flon General Hospital (Main Entrance); The Pas Testing Centre (328 Fischer Ave.); and Thompson Clinic Testing Centre (Plaza Mall).

The testing site below is not open to the public and is for preoperative purposes only:

  • Portage la Prairie Testing Site (159-Fifth St. SE)

PCR tests will continue to be available at these sites to eligible people, which includes pre-operative patients and those at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 who may be eligible for treatment. For up-to-date information about hours and locations, as well as information on rapid antigen tests, visit manitoba.ca.

Deaths

Public health officials advise 20 deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

  • a male in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 40s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 100s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at Tuxedo Villa (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 50s from the Northern health region (reported Friday);
  • a male in his 50s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 90s from the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Friday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Saturday);
  • a male in his 80s from Southern Health-Santé Sud health region (reported Saturday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region and linked to the outbreak at Health Sciences Centre GH4 (reported Saturday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Sunday);
  • a male in his 50s from the Northern health region (reported Monday);
  • a female in her 40s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Monday);
  • a male in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region (reported Tuesday);
  • a male less than one year from the Northern health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a female in her 70s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a female in her 80s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Wednesday)a female in her 30s from the Interlake-Eastern health region (reported Wednesday);
  • a male in his 20s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday); and
  • a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region (reported Thursday).

Enforcement

The Manitoba government is also providing an update on ongoing enforcement efforts to protect Manitobans from the spread of COVID-19. A total of 1,058 inspections occurred, which resulted in three warnings and two tickets issued for the week of March 7 to 13, consisting of two $298 tickets to individuals for failure to wear a mask in an indoor public place. One ticket was issued in Southern Health Santé-Sud and one was issued in Winnipeg.

Updated enforcement statistics are posted online weekly at manitoba.ca.

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