On Monday, November 2, the province announced new guidance for Manitobans who are advised to self-isolate.

Dr. Brent Roussin, at his daily press briefing, indicated that the goal of self-isolation is to ensure that if individuals do eventually test positive after being exposed to someone with the virus, they will have no close contacts—but this goal, so far, has not been achieved.

“Anyone who is symptomatic, or has a household member who is symptomatic, should isolate until results come in,” says Dr. Roussin. “If a family has a child at home with symptoms of COVID, that entire family needs to self-isolate pending results from that test. No one goes to school or goes to work until that test result is back.”

This is a big change from the past, where only the person who had been advised to get tested was instructed to self-isolate. Now the province is expanding the self-isolation requirement to the entire household.

“We know this will lead to a lot of absenteeism, but it’s keeping with our message that people should be staying home for the most part,” Dr. Rousin adds. “But it’s short-term. We need everyone on board for a short time to change the dynamics of what we’re seeing right now.”

Healthcare workers are exempt from this new requirement, as are first responders. Other exemptions could be announced for those whose jobs are deemed especially critical.

Dr. Roussin also mentioned that people who are unable to isolate within their home may be given alternate self-isolation accommodations.