Manitoba Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Jazz Atwal reported 145 new cases of COVID-19 since Wednesday bringing the five day test positivity rate to 5.4 percent. He also reported seven new deaths with four in the Winnipeg region and three in Southern health. Of the 54 new cases reported today 23 were in Winnipeg with lower numbers in other regions including five in Northern Health. Atwal expressed concern about the Delta variant reporting as of Wednesday June 30th there have been 217 cases of the variant identified in Manitoba since late April. He says the Delta variant has now been identified in every regional health authority in Manitoba with the majority of cases to date identified in Winnipeg at 40 percent followed by Southern at 29 percent and then Northern at 24 percent. He adds 14 or 6.5 percent of these cases were travel acquired and 131 cases or 60.4 percent were close contacts of a know case.
Atwal noted two doses of COVID-19 vaccine are highly effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant.
