Manitoba Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced 118 new cases of COVID-19 this afternoon with a five day test positivity rate of 10.7 percent.  He also announced five additional deaths all in the Winnipeg health region.  He explains they are starting to see our case numbers come down and while our restrictions are due for review we need to ensure that this is not a time that we relax our efforts against the virus.  He notes our test positivity rates are still high, our hospitalization and ICU numbers are still high and it’s also too early to know the effects of gathering over the holidays will have on our numbers.            

Roussin added the impact of those numbers will be part of their review of the current restrictions.

Of the new cases 80 are in the Winnipeg region and 19 in Southern health with single digit numbers in other regions.  Of the reported total 25,244 cases 4423 are considered active, 20,133 individuals have recovered and 340 are in hospital with 41 in intensive care.