WINNIPEG -- Manitoba is officially under tightened health orders beginning today.
Premier Brian Pallister and Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, announced the enhanced restrictions on Thursday, saying that some Manitobans weren’t adhering to the Code Red restrictions put in place last week.
“We saw people gathering at rallies, we saw crowded parking lots at big box stores, we saw people continue to go out for non-essential items -- so we are left with no choice but to announce further measures to protect Manitobans to limit the spread of this virus," Roussin said.
The new health orders involve restrictions regarding group gathering sizes and retail businesses, which includes:
- Gatherings at private residences are restricted. Nobody is permitted inside except for the people who live there, with exceptions for child-care, health-care and home-care services, tutoring, construction, repairs, and emergency response services;
- Those who live alone can have one person visit their home;
- Visits between a child and a parent/guardian who don’t normally live together are permitted;
- Gatherings of more than five people are prohibited in any indoor or outdoor public space, including the common areas of a multi-unit residence. Exceptions can be made at a health-care facility or critical business that follows public health measures;
- Stores are not allowed to sell non-essential items in-person. By Saturday, Nov. 21, non-essential items must be marked or sectioned off from the rest of the store; and
- If a customer brings a non-essential item to the cashier, they can’t ring it through.
“Unless everybody gets with the team and gets on Team Manitoba there isn't going to be much chance for us to change any of these restrictions,” Pallister said.
“We're not going to be able to do that unless everybody gets on the team, and we limit the number of contacts for a time here, and we do the circuit breaker Dr. Roussin talked about. That’s the goal.”
- With files from CTV’s Charles Lefebvre.
