Childcare centres in Manitoba will no longer be required to notify COVID-19 close contacts

Early learning and childcare centres (ELCC) in Manitoba will no longer be required to notify close contacts of COVID-19 cases.

The province made the announcement in the COVID-19 bulletin on Wednesday, saying the decision puts ELCC facilities in line with schools in the province.

“Attendance of children and staff will be based on symptom screening,” the bulletin reads. “Children or staff exposed to COVID-19 in the childcare and school settings may continue to attend childcare and school if they are asymptomatic.”

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said staff, family and home daycare providers should continue to monitor for symptoms daily.

He said with Omicron being so infectious and having a shorter incubation period, the current standard of contact tracing is not effective.

“If we see a change in the virus again, then perhaps, there may be a need for it,” Roussin said. “Right now, we’re dealing with Omicron and the nature of this virus is not conducive to widespread contact tracing.”

Earlier in the month, the province made similar changes to close contact notification at schools, saying the province needs to shift its strategy to find ways to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, rather than containing the virus.

When asked what he would say to parents, Roussin said, on average, COVID-19 has been much less severe in younger ages and they haven’t seen many severe outcomes in children.

“We’ve seen that toll on kids being out of school and daycare, the toll on parents, and this is a matter of trying to reduce some of that burden,” he said.

The province said public health will continue to monitor overall cases in the centres and may contact a facility if increased COVID-19 activity is suspected.

Roussin said home-based centres should follow the same guidance that applies to other childcare centres.

The new guidance takes effect on Jan. 28.