The province is announcing 250 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. 

Public health officials advise two new deaths in people with COVID-19 have been reported today:
• a male in his teens from the Winnipeg health region; and
• a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 11.5 per cent provincially and 12.3 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 250 new cases of the virus have been identified. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 53,403.

Today’s COVID-19 data shows:
• 32 cases in the Interlake–Eastern health region;
• 18 cases in the Northern health region. 
• 16 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region;   
• 48 cases in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region; and   
• 136 cases in the Winnipeg health region.
  
The data also shows:  
• 3,786 active cases and 48,536 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
• 323 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19 in Manitoba and neighbouring provinces including:
   - 214 people in hospital in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 79 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious, amounting to a total of 293 hospitalizations; 
   - a total of 97 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19 including:
      o 49 people in intensive care units in Manitoba with active COVID-19 as well as 18 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, amounting to a total of 67 ICU patients in Manitoba; and
      o 30 Manitoba patients in intensive care units outside the province, with 27 in Ontario, one in Saskatchewan and two in Alberta; 
• 21 patients previously receiving care in an out of province ICU have now been returned to Manitoba hospitals including four who were repatriated yesterday from Ontario; 
• 2,713 laboratory tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab tests completed since early February 2020 to 792,471; and
• the total number of deaths in people with COVID-19 is 1,081.