5 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Manitoba, hospitalizations down by 39

Five people have died due to COVID-19 in Manitoba since Thursday, and there are 39 fewer hospitalizations, according to the provincial government's online dashboard.

On Thursday, the province reported 459 COVID-19 hospitalizations. As of Friday, that number has decreased to 420.

There are now 22 people in intensive care units for COVID-19, down from 29 on Thursday.

As of midnight Friday, there were a total 95 patients in the ICU.This includes patients receivingnon-COVID care, as well as those receiving care for COVID-19.

To date, 1,690 Manitobans have died from the illness.

Due to limited access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the 178 new lab-confirmed cases reported Friday are considered an undercount.

Ofthe new cases reported on Friday, 32 are in the Interlake-Eastern health region, 33 in the Northern Health region, 26 in the Prairie Mountain health region, 16 in the Southern Health region, and 71 in the Winnipeg health region.

The dashboard also reports7,142 active cases as of Friday, but that number is also considered an undercount.

There was a slight 0.1 per cent increase in Manitoba's five-day test positivity rate, up to 12.6 per cent from 12.5 per cent on Thursday.

On Monday, the test positivity rate was at 16.7 per cent.

A total of 1,217 PCR tests were completed Friday.

Rapid test kits are now available for free at some grocery stores in Manitoba and public libraries in Winnipeg. Results from rapid test kits are not included in the provincial COVID-19 case counts.

Manitoba dropped its vaccine mandates on March 1. The vaccine cards, QR codes and the verifier app are still functional.

Mask mandates, isolation requirements and contact tracing will come to an end on March 15.