Manitoba will eliminate capacity limits for many businesses and other venues starting Tuesday as the province further loosens public health orders and eliminate mask requirements on March 15.
The province also intends to remove all proof of vaccination requirements on March 1, which means vaccination cards will no longer be needed.
All restrictions will end March 15, Premier Heather Stefanson said at a Friday morning news conference.
“Today we offer hope to those who have been waiting for a long time to see that light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
“The restrictions have placed many burdens on Manitobans, and now that we see the pressure of our hospital systems starting to ease, it’s our responsibility of government to ease those restrictions on Manitobans.”
On Tuesday, pandemic capacity limits will be dropped for restaurants, licensed premises, entertainment venues, indoor and outdoor sporting events and casinos and gatherings at private residences.
They will also be removed for outdoor public gatherings.
Indoor public gathering limits will be removed if proof of vaccination is required to enter. If not, the limit will be 50 people.
Anyone age 12 to 17 who is participating in indoor sports and recreation will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination or recent testing.
There are no changes to retail and personal services until March.
Also as of Tuesday, unvaccinated close contacts of a person who tests positive for COVID-19 will no longer be required to self-isolate.
Public health continues to recommend self-isolation for people who live in a household with someone who has symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19, but it will no longer be required.
Self-isolation requirements for people entering the province will also be discontinued. However, anyone travelling from international destinations will continue to be required to meet requirements under the federal Quarantine Act.
Public health orders restricting travel to northern Manitoba remain in place.
“Based on the information and data monitored by public health, we are seeing strong signals that the Omicron wave has peaked and is now having a reduced impact here in Manitoba,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer.
“So we are certainly turning the corner in the pandemic.”
But it is not over yet, he said, adding Manitoba is in “an important time of transition” that still requires people to get vaccinated and stay home when sick.
Though gathering limits will no longer be required, they are still strongly recommended, he said.
The changes — which are coming a week earlier than the current restrictions were initially set to expire — will include moving Manitoba to the yellow caution level under the province’s pandemic response system from the current restricted orange level.
School changes
Schools will also return to yellow, which means cohorts are only required in kindergarten to Grade 6. Masks are required indoors for staff and students but will not be required during physical education classes.
Medical masks will be recommended but no longer required for school staff.
Schools will continue to send out community notification letters if public health officials have identified increased transmission or recommended remote learning for a class, cohort or entire school.
As well, Manitoba’s online dashboard will continue to post this information but will no longer include case numbers, the province said in a release.
Children, school staff and child-care staff will only be eligible for PCR testing if medically indicated, in line with eligibility criteria for all Manitobans.
In some settings, such as personal care homes, shelters and health-care facilities, public health officials have continued to work with facilities to notify close contacts of people who test positive, but that will end on March 8, the province said in a news release.
Health group disappointed
The Manitoba Health Coalition, a non-profit health-care advocacy group, released a statement on Friday expressing its disappointment with the changes.
It suggested the province is responding to the anti-restrictions convoy set up outside the legislative building and international border.
“It is disheartening that the provincial government has chosen to reject the reality facing our health-care system in favour of catering to extreme voices that do not reflect the view of Manitobans,” coalition provincial director Thomas Linner said in a news release.
Patients are still being transferred out of their home communities for critical care due to staff shortages and overwhelmed hospitals in the province, while the backlog for surgical and diagnostic tests remains in excess of 150,000 because of the ongoing demand on the system, he said.
There have also been 29 deaths due to COVID-19 this week.
“The protest movement camped outside the legislative building has blocked access to health facilities, schools and the Emerson border crossing to the United States.
“This is not a movement that deserves to be catered to with political victories that will hurt families, overworked and understaffed front-line health-care workers and the most vulnerable Manitobans,” he said in the news release.
“Manitobans deserve better.”
Stefanson denied she is capitulating to the demands of the protesters, telling reporters that discussions toward reopening have been going on for some time as the data began to improve.
“The data is now telling us that the ICUs are on decline, the ICU capacity for COVID patients is on decline, the hospitalization capacity is on decline, so now it’s time to safely move forward with the reduction of these restrictions,” she said.
“This was not a decision that was made because of what’s going on and protests that are taking place in the province, this is a decision that is made for Manitobans who have sacrificed much of their lives for the last two years.”
‘Choice to get vaccinated is yours’: Stefanson
Stefanson laid the responsibility for dealing with the protests at the feet of other officials.
The downtown protest is under the purview of the Winnipeg police, she said, adding she has been talking with Mayor Brian Bowman.
On the protest at the border, Stefanson said she has reached out to the prime minister.
“I’ve asked for what is the plan, and his plan, moving forward to deal with this,” she said.
Stefanson and Roussin kept repeating that many statistical indicators back their decision to drop the mandates, yet did not present any supporting data.
When asked where that is, Stefanson brusquely said it would be released, then shrugged in response to a followup question on when.
Roussin then said he would present it next Wednesday at the weekly COVID-19 news conference.
Stefanson, who has stressed the importance of getting vaccinated, toned that message down on Friday. While she said she and her family are fully vaccinated, she added that “the choice to get vaccinated is yours.”
“It’s time for a new normal to begin in Manitoba,” she said.
“We need to end the divisiveness between families, between communities. We need to move forward. It’s time to bring Manitobans back together again.”
WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | Feb. 11, 2022:
Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. 45:47
