At a news conference on Wednesday, June 23, Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin announced that the first step in the province’s summer reopening plan is ready to be implemented, one week early.
The loosened restrictions will take effect on Saturday, June 26 and last at least until August 2, allowing many businesses and facilities to reopen at 25 percent capacity.
These new measures were triggered by Manitoba reaching and surpassing the first key vaccination benchmarks. In mid-June, the first benchmark was set as 70 percent of eligible Manitobans receiving at first one dose, and 25 percent receiving the full two doses.
As of today, 71 percent of eligible Manitobans have received one dose, and 27 percent have received two doses. Test positivity and hospitalization rates have been falling in recent weeks.
“Manitobans have earned an earlier reopening,” says Pallister. “Together, we have beat back the third wave and have booked first and second dose vaccinations in record numbers. After nearly a year and half fighting COVID-19, it is time for Manitobans to regain their freedoms and enjoy a summer we all want, and have rightfully earned.”
Manitobans who are fully immunized may apply to receive an immunization card two weeks after getting their second vaccine dose. Holders of that card can now benefit from the following exemptions:
• visit loved ones in personal care homes or hospitals.
• participate in social or communal activities, if you are a resident of a personal care home or congregate living facility.
• travel domestically for essential and non-essential purposes outside of Manitoba without the requirement to self-isolate on their return.
• dine indoors at restaurants and bars with other fully immunized friends and family from outside your household.
Large-scale, outdoor professional sports or performing arts events may also allow fully immunized Manitobans to attend, subject to approval by Manitoba Public Health. The province will work with sports and arts organization to implement proof of vaccination protocols for these events.
Additional benefits for fully immunized Manitobans will be announced in July, including increasing capacity for fully immunized people at weddings, funerals, as well as faith-based and other gatherings, based on continued vaccination rate increases and improvements in the province’s overall COVID-19 situation.
Manitobans may also gather in larger numbers, dine out in restaurants and on patios, attend faith-based services, and go to gyms, hair salons, and retail stores in every region, with some restrictions remaining.
The full list of changes to the public health orders are as follows:
• outdoor gathering sizes on private property to double to 10 persons, and to allow outdoor visitors to briefly access homes for essential activities (e.g. to use a washroom).
• public outdoor gathering sizes to increase to 25 persons.
• retail businesses to open with increased capacity at 25 percent to a limit of 250 persons, with no restrictions on the number of household members permitted to shop together.
• personal service businesses (hair and nail salons, estheticians, barbers, etc.) to reopen at 50 percent capacity, on an appointment basis only.
• restaurants and bars to reopen at 25 percent capacity for indoors and 50 percent for outdoor dining. For indoor dining, patrons seated together must be from the same household unless all patrons at the table are fully immunized. Patrons who are fully immunized and from different households may dine together. For outdoor dining, tables are limited to a maximum of eight patrons and can be from different households regardless of immunization status.
• indoor faith-based services and organized community gatherings (e.g. pow wows, sun dance ceremonies) to resume at 25 percent capacity to a limit of 25 persons with masks worn at all times.
• outdoor faith-based and organized community gatherings (e.g. pow wows, sun dance ceremonies) to resume for up to 50 persons, provided distance can be maintained between households. Drive-in services continue to be permitted.
• outdoor weddings and funerals may take place with up to 25 participants, in addition to photographer and officiants. Indoor weddings and funerals remain limited to 10 persons.
• indoor dance, music, theatre and other organized sports and recreation activities may reopen at 25 percent capacity to a limit of five persons, with no tournaments allowed.
• outdoor dance, music and theatre classes and other organized recreation activities may reopen for groups up to 25 people, with no tournaments allowed.
• swimming and wading pools, both indoor and outdoor, may reopen at 25 percent capacity.
• gyms and fitness facilities may reopen for individual and group fitness classes at 25 percent capacity with three metres distance maintained between patrons.
• summer day camps may reopen to a maximum of 20 participants in groups.
Following the COVID-19 safety fundamentals, including indoor mask use and physical distancing, is still required.
Although these orders are slated to remain in effect until at least August 2, the province has noted that public health orders could change earlier than that if vaccination targets are reached ahead of schedule.
The next vaccination goal is for 75 percent of all eligible Manitobans to have received a first dose, and for 50 percent to have received a second dose.
That said, Dr. Roussin warned that the pandemic is not over, and every activity still comes with risk.
“While the case numbers and our health system are improving, the pandemic is not over and variants of concern, especially the B.1.617.2 (delta) variant, are still circulating,” Dr. Roussin says. “This is why Manitobans need to continue to practice the fundamentals—washing your hands, physical distancing, wearing a mask, and getting fully vaccinated. Today’s reopening fits with the public health advice on where we are in the fight against the pandemic and where we still have to go.”
