The backlog for diagnostic and surgical procedures in the province continues to rise.

As of Thursday, the backlog is estimated at 161,585 cases, a surge of nearly 8,000 cases since last month. 

In a release, Dr. Kristjan Thompson had this to say.

"The Omicron wave has been hugely disruptive to hospital care in Manitoba," Dr. Kristjan Thompson, president of Doctors Manitoba and an emergency medicine physician at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg.

The backlog breakdown now consists of:

• 52,327 surgeries, up 2,168 over the last month.
• 42,524 diagnostic imaging procedures — MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, a decrease of 35 cases since last month.
• 66,786 other diagnostic procedures, including allergy tests, endoscopies, mammograms, sleep disorder studies and lung function tests, an increase of 5,615.

The backlog numbers are expected to continue to rise, despite the province announcing their plans to open back up the economy.