Northern COVID-19 cases drop to 208 active but southern surge continues, 557 net new cases found

Northern Manitoba and the province as a whole broke new ground on COVID-19 Thursday - but while the north is trending downward, the province as a whole is skyrocketing.

Northern Manitoba is now at its lowest number of active COVID-19 cases in six months. Another 27 cases were reported in the Northern Health Region (NHR) Thursday, but a series of case corrections took down northern Manitoba's overall COVID-19 numbers, especially in remote health districts like Island Lake - 64 cases were moved being considered "active" to "recovered".

The reductions took the NHR's active case count from 282 cases Wednesday to 208 Thursday, the lowest level for northern cases since November 14 of last year.

Out of the 27 new cases announced May 13, 11 of those cases were reported in the Bunibonibee/Oxford House/Manto Sipi/Gods River/Gods Lake district, where 25 cases are now active. Four cases each were found in the Island Lake district and "unknown district". In the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district, two new COVID-19 cases were reported, with one recovery offsetting a new case. The district now has 10 active cases.

No new outbreaks or possible public exposures were announced in the NHR Thursday.

As has been the case in recent weeks, southern Manitoba is escalating, due in large part to variants of concern cases in Winnipeg and other southern health districts. As a province, Manitoba reported a new one-day record for newly announced cases, hitting 557 net new cases. 

In terms of new cases announced province-wide each day, COVID-19 is now more widespread in Manitoba than it ever has been before. In the last five days, 14.4 per cent of all people tested for COVID-19 in Winnipeg have tested positive - 12 per cent of all people who were tested in the last five days province wide have tested positive as well.

Three more deaths from COVID-19 were reported May 13, all linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern - by far the most widely spread variant in Manitoba. Two of the deaths were reported in Prairie Mountain Health, with the third found in Winnipeg.

A total of 240 people are in Manitoba hospitals due to COVID-19, with 62 of those people in intensive care.

For more northern COVID-19 case information by district, see below.