Current public health orders have been extended for an additional three weeks with the goal of maintaining Manitoba’s positive response to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Health and Seniors Care Minister Audrey Gordon and Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, announced today.
“Manitoba must stay vigilant in our fight against COVID-19 and the fourth wave,” said Gordon. “Our case numbers, hospital admissions and ICU numbers continue to fluctuate but we need to remain steadfast in our approach with the current public health orders we have in place. We know that vaccination works. Currently, the vast majority of hospitalizations and ICU admissions are people who are unvaccinated. To fully bring an end to the pandemic, we all need to do our part and get vaccinated.”
The municipalities of Cartier, Headingley, Macdonald, Ritchot (Niverville-Ritchot), St. Francois Xavier and Tache are geographically located in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region. Considering their vaccination rates are more consistent with that of the Winnipeg capital region, as well as their proximity to and regular commuting to Winnipeg, the new public health orders will see these select municipalities treated like Winnipeg and the rest of the province. All other public health orders remain unchanged.
The orders continue to allow fully vaccinated Manitobans to enjoy as much freedom and as few restrictions as possible, while unvaccinated individuals continue to be restricted in their activities in order to reduce transmission and the most serious outcomes. This includes:
- limiting private indoor gatherings for households to guests from one other household when any unvaccinated person who is eligible to be vaccinated is present on the property (even if the unvaccinated person lives at that location);
- limiting private outdoor gatherings for households to 10 guests when any unvaccinated person who is eligible to be vaccinated is present on the property (even if the unvaccinated person lives at that location);
- reducing indoor public gathering group sizes to 25 people or 25 per cent capacity, whichever is lower, for gatherings that include unvaccinated people who are eligible to be vaccinated including weddings and funerals;
- setting indoor group sizes for faith-based gatherings to 25 people or 33 per cent capacity, whichever is greater, for gatherings that include unvaccinated people who are eligible to be vaccinated.
- limiting all outdoor public gathering sizes to 50 people; and
- retail capacity remains at 50 per cent in the Southern Health-Santé Sud health region with the exception of capital region communities to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in this region.
“Treating these municipalities like Winnipeg makes sense, given their stronger vaccination rates as well as their daily commute and close proximity to the city,” said Roussin. “We need Manitobans across the province to step up and be vaccinated against COVID-19. We continue to monitor several indicators such as vaccination rates, test positivity rate, case counts and the strain on our health system to determine our next steps and make contingency plans if needed.”
The new orders will come into effect on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 12:01 a.m. and will be in place until Nov. 16. The orders will keep the Pandemic Response System at Restricted (Orange) with schools at Caution (Yellow).
All other public health orders remain unchanged. For more information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19.
(MB Government Website)