Restrictions on sales of "non-essential" retail items in northern Manitoba will be lifted starting Tuesday.
The provincial government announced the change during the Feb. 1 COVID-19 media briefing, allowing stores and businesses to have in-person sales of items previously blocked from sale by provincial health orders. The list of items considered to be non-essential will be eliminated for northern Manitoba, the only part of the province where it is still in effect.
All stores will be allowed to open providing social distancing can be maintained and occupancy limits are in place - 25 per cent of the store's capacity or 250 people maximum, whichever is smaller.
Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced the change, but made it clear that the reason for the change was not due to positive changes in COVID-19 rates. Roussin said the change was announced because of received reports of northern residents leaving the region to buy non-essential items in southern Manitoba and in neighbouring provinces.
"When we announced a modest loosening of restrictions two weeks ago, we did not remove the essential items list from the Northern Health Region. In the last two weeks, we have seen a significant amount of travel from the Northern Health Region to obtain non-essential goods - a lot of travel from the northern communities into Winnipeg, especially," Roussin said.
"We definitely do not want to see that interprovincial travel, certainly not for non-essential items. In an attempt to reduce that, we are going to eliminate the essential items list in the Northern Health Region. In that capacity, all retail stores can remain open. They will not have to follow just a non-essentials list. They will be able to sell and will not be limited by that list."
Other health restrictions in place in the north, including for personal services such as hairstylists or for social gatherings in households, will remain in effect.
The changes officially go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Monday night.
