In its first day in the new "red" designation, Manitoba is seeing heavy restrictions across the province.
The new restrictions went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. In a Nov. 12 media briefing, Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin ordered the code red and said the measures were brought in to protect health care capacity and stop spread of COVID-19. On Nov. 12, the province reported 474 new cases and nine deaths.
"These are sobering numbers. We're announcing more than 2,500 cases in one week and more than 20 deaths in three days. That's why we've introduced a number of province-wide restrictions through the pandemic response system to help reduce the spread of COVID-19," said Roussin.
The new restrictions will include a temporary restriction on social gatherings. Under the new rating, public health officials have determined social gatherings will not be permitted during the order. Gatherings of more than five people from outside the same household may be subject to fines, including funerals, weddings and similar group events. Operators and organizers will not be allowed to rent or reserve a venue or items for any gathering that contravenes the order.
"The message is 'stay home'. The message is 'do not socialize outside of your household," Roussin said.
"Let's be absolutely clear - the message from public health is to stay home, leave for essential reasons only, only socialize with people inside your household."
Retail businesses like grocery stores, pharmacies or others - listed by the province as "critical services" - will remain open, but can only allow in 25 per cent of the building's listed capacity. Non-critical retail businesses can provide curbside pickup, delivery service or online service.
Personal service businesses like hairstylists and manicurists will need to close, along with gyms and fitness centres. All church services or other religious gatherings will need to be closed to the public or offered virtually. Restaurants will need to cancel sit-down service but can stay open for delivery, drive-thru or takeout service.
"Many businesses must close, including personal services businesses like hair salons, barbers and sites offering manicures, pedicures and aesthetic services," said Roussin.
All recreational facilities, including sports facilities, casinos, museums, libraries, galleries, theatres, concert halls and other venues will need to close.
Non-essential travel to and from northern Manitoba will see further restrictions.
Schools will see little change during the "red" period - blended learning, a mix of in-class and online learning, will stay in place for Grades 9-12 when social distancing cannot be done, while Kindergarten-Grade 8 students may be offered temporary remote learning if local and regional authorities deem it appropriate. Schools will still include cohorts and in-class social distancing and all other health measures are still in effect.
Patients expecting non-urgent or elective surgeries might be affected, depending on health care capacity. Any patients whose procedures or appointments may be affected will be contacted, with anyone not contacted asked to show up for appointments as scheduled. Visits to patients in hospital and health centres will be restricted, with exceptions made in some cases like end-of-life care or childbirth.
Roussin said he and other health officials have received requests to go into a full "lockdown", similar to that seen this spring when the disease first appeared in Canada. Roussin said in some cases, the new measures go further than what the province did in the spring.
"There's been a lot of calls for us to return to a lockdown, the term that is often used in letters to us, that we saw in spring. In spring, we had group sizes of 10 and in spring, those didn't apply to private residences. In spring, in our toughest restrictions prior to this, there was no restriction on private gatherings. There was nothing to prevent people from having hundreds of people at their house. That was because Manitobans listened to what public health's advice was, and they will listen again," Roussin said.
"These are the most restrictive orders we've had to date in Manitoba and that is because we are at a very critical juncture. Our hospitals are nearing capacity and we need to ensure that we're stepping up now to reduce our contacts."
