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With the COVID-19 situation improving at a steady rate in the province, public health officials are now mulling over new public health orders that would broaden Manitoba’s cautious re-opening plan.
Dubbing it another “big day” for the province, Premier Brian Pallister said at a news conference on Thursday that it’s time to start looking at the next stage of that cautious plan and asked for public consultation through the provinces’ EngageMB website.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, outlined the proposed changes, which include the ability for restaurants, gyms, nail salons, tattoo parlours and libraries to open to limited capacity.
“We’re in a stable place right now,” Roussin said. “Our data is not showing evidence of a spike as a result of the reopening measures put in place Jan. 23.”
For restaurants, there would be a 25{066dbc63777e5ed549f406789d72fdeebd77a32711d57f7b38ff2b35c4ba2a42} capacity limit with the requirement to close at 10 p.m. Patrons, meanwhile, would be limited to households only. The same requirements would be in place for public libraries.
Those 25{066dbc63777e5ed549f406789d72fdeebd77a32711d57f7b38ff2b35c4ba2a42} capacity limits would also extend to nail salons and tattoo parlours. Gyms would have the same capacity limit and only be allowed to hold one-on-one training sessions. No group classes would be permitted.
Places of worship would also be thrown a bone, with a 10{066dbc63777e5ed549f406789d72fdeebd77a32711d57f7b38ff2b35c4ba2a42} capacity limit of 50 people, whichever is lower.
Other proposed changes include the allowance for organized outdoor sports, including games and practices. The film industry would also be allowed to work again, and weddings would be allowed to have 10 people plus the officiant and a photographer. Photographers themselves would also be allowed to resume their operations outdoors and with studio capacity limited to household members only.
