The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is five per cent provincially and 3.2 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30am on March 20, 89 new cases of the virus have been identified. However, two cases have been removed due to data correction. This brings the net-new number of cases today to 87 and the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 33,263.

Public health officials advise one additional death in a person with COVID-19 is being reported today:

  • a male in his 80s from the Winnipeg Health Region.

Today’s COVID-19 data shows:

  • two cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region;
  • 46 cases in the Northern health region;
  • five cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;
  • six cases in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region; and
  • 30 cases in the Winnipeg health region.

The data also shows:

  • 1,155 active cases and 31,188 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
  • 56 people in hospital with active COVID-19 as well as 77 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 133 hospitalizations;
  • 10 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as 11 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 21 ICU patients;
  • the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 920; and
  • the total number of confirmed variant of concern cases of B.1.1.7 is 63 and B.1.351 is 13, bringing the total number of confirmed variant of concern cases to 76.

Laboratory testing numbers show 1,991 tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 561,466.

Additional data related to COVID-19, including data on outbreaks as well as some downloadable and historic data, can be found at geoportal.gov.mb.ca.

An outbreak has been declared at Riverview Health Centre Personal Care Home in Winnipeg. The facility has been moved to the Critical (Red) level on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System.

Possible exposure locations are listed online by region at the province’s #RestartMB Pandemic Response System webpage. For up-to-date information on possible public exposures to COVID-19 in regions, visit gov.mb.ca and click on your region.

Effective today, public health officials strongly recommend COVID-19 testing before travel to First Nations and Indigenous and Northern Relations communities, and before someone returns to a community if a resident has been away for more than 48 hours.

Testing is not required for individuals with a previous lab-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the past three months. Testing is recommended for individuals who have received one or two doses of vaccine.

Individuals without symptoms of COVID-19 travelling to, or returning to, a First Nations or Indigenous and Northern Relations community can seek testing within three days of travel at no cost at several COVID-19 testing sites in Winnipeg, Thompson and The Pas. For more information, visit manitoba.ca.

For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, including information the online screening tool, testing criteria and locations, self-isolation requirements, public health fundamentals and the provincial response level on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System, visit
manitoba.ca.