The province has announced that further pandemic restrictions will be lifted on Friday, March 5. This decision comes after a period of public consultation. The majority of respondents indicated they were somewhat or very comfortable with expanding the reopening efforts.
These latest public health orders will be in effect for three weeks, to be revised again on March 25.
“I want to thank Manitobans for providing their feedback on the proposed plan we presented last week, which outlined a roadmap for the weeks ahead,” says Premier Brian Pallister. “While there is much hope in the window with vaccine advancements and Manitoba’s COVID case numbers, I must remind Manitobans that we are not out of the woods yet. We will continue to take a cautious and gradual approach to restarting our activities and services to ensure we continue to protect and safeguard Manitoba lives.”
A few changes are in place as they relate to households and gatherings:
• households can choose one of the following: (1) continue designating two visitors to their home; or (2) designate a second household so that two households can visit each other, as long as everyone in the house has authorized those designated individuals to visit.
• gathering limits at an outdoor public or private place to increase to 10 people including for outdoor non-organized sport or recreation activities.
• places of worship to have increased capacity size of 25 percent or 100 people, whichever is lower, with physical distancing measures in place and mask requirements.
Here are the changes that relate to businesses, retail locations, and restaurants:
• any types of business to be able to operate with the exception of indoor theatres, indoor concert halls, casinos, and bingo halls.
• retail stores, malls, and personal services to have increased capacity limits of up to 50 percent or 250 people, whichever is lower, with other public health measures still in effect.
• restaurants and licensed premises to have increased capacity limits of up to 50 percent, with the requirement for tables to sit with only household members, and other public health measures still in effect.
• businesses other than casinos to resume operating video lottery terminals, with physical distancing measures and barriers in place.
• professional theatre groups, dance companies, symphonies, and operas to resume rehearsals that are not accessible to members of the public.
Changes are also being made in the areas of recreation and fitness:
• day camps for children to operate at 25 percent capacity with other public health measures in place.
• indoor recreation and sporting facilities such as gyms, fitness centres, rinks, courts, fields, ranges, studios, clubs, pools and centres to open at 25 percent total capacity, with public health measures in place including for spectators, common areas and locker rooms. The requirement to provide one-on-one instructions has been removed; gym, fitness centre, and pool users must continue to wear a mask while working out and in all other areas of the facility, with the exception of while in a swimming pool; dance, theatre and music facilities to open for a total capacity of 25 percent.
• indoor recreational facilities such as arcades, go-kart tracks, and children’s facilities to open at 25 percent capacity with physical distancing measures in place.
“Manitoba’s COVID-19 cases continue to trend in the right direction, thanks to the dedication and hard work of Manitobans to follow the public health orders,” says Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s chief provincial health officer. “With variants of concern identified here in Manitoba and in neighbouring jurisdictions, we must keep our guard up, and continue to follow the fundamentals that have allowed us to carefully and cautiously restart our services and activities. It is crucial that Manitobans continue to avoid the activities that are known to cause the greatest risk—close-contact setting, closed spaces, and crowded places.”
