Regional COVID-19 test rates revealed, Southern Health highest, Winnipeg lowest

One region's COVID-19 test rate is almost triple the provincial average, consistently seeing high rates this fall.

Southern Health is the outlier when comparing the five-day test positivity rate. As of Wednesday, the rate is 14.5 per cent, whereas on the same day Manitoba's rate was 4.9 per cent. Winnipeg's rate is the lowest, hovering at two per cent Wednesday.

"I want to remind Manitobans that the test positivity rate can be highly variable, particularly in regions with smaller populations and are based on the number of tests conducted in that region which can be impacted by active outbreaks in the area," Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Jazz Atwal says in a Wednesday press conference.

He cautions that this data can vary each day due to smaller populations in rural areas, particularly if there are outbreaks.

Five-day test rates per region as of Wednesday:

14.5 per cent in Southern Health
9.5 per cent in Northern
5.3 per cent in Interlake-Eastern
4.8 per cent in Prairie Mountain
two per cent in Winnipeg

Southern Health has the second-lowest testing volume per 100,000 at 194, second to Prairie Mountain at 189.4. Prairie Mountain's test rate is the second-lowest in Manitoba at 4.8 per cent, slightly lower than the provincial average.

An outlier in this data is that Southern Health, Northern Health, and Interlake-Eastern all have higher test averages than the provincial average.

"We are monitoring the situation in Southern Heath as we are monitoring the situation across the province. We are looking to see if there is anything else we can do from a measures perspective and recommendations to government."

Testing volume per 100,000 people as of Wednesday: