Health orders on indoor youth sports take effect in Manitoba
Last month the province announced that as of 12:01am on Dec. 6, Manitoba youth age 12 to 17 will be required to show proof of at least one vaccination or provide a recent negative COVID-19 test to take part in indoor recreational sports.
The province said negative tests need to come from participating pharmacies, not from publically run testing sites, and unvaccinated youth will need get the test within 72 hours of participating.
The province said the new rules were prompted by modelling, which shows case counts are increasing most rapidly among youth between ages 0 and 19.
Hockey is one of the predominant sports played through Manitoba’s winter months, and Hockey Manitoba executive director Peter Woods said with case numbers continuing to rise, the health order was expected.
“Maybe sports was living a little bit on borrowed time, and it could’ve been probably introduced earlier in the year like they’ve done with a number of different activities,” Woods said.
Woods said the facilities that are holding the games will be responsible for checking for proof of vaccination, but there are still some questions around what a negative test looks like, if tests will look different from region to region, and what kind of identification can be provided.
“They’ve identified some of the things you can provide like a health card, a web view, or other government documentation, but a lot of 12 year olds and up might not have that information,” he said.
Woods said there are still some challenges that need to be worked out, and they’ve been getting a lot of questions from members in the last month leading up to the new rules being implemented.
Some sports leagues took it upon themselves to implement mandatory vaccination for youth age 12 to 17 right from the start.
CTV News Winnipeg spoke with the vice president of the Winnipeg Ringette League Jennifer Kingsley in November. She said the league required players to be vaccinated at the beginning of the season, months before the province’s requirements.
“We are willing to stand there and say the health of everyone is more important than a little bit of problems for us to (implement) it,” said Kingsley.
Woods said the new rules are another step towards keeping everyone safe.
“Every time that virus has an opportunity to spread it can mutate, and if it mutates it might get to the situation where the current vaccinations that we have will no longer protect us, and we’ll have to start over at square one again…that’s one of the biggest reasons why people should look into it,” Woods said.
Hockey Manitoba has frequent updates surrounding health mandates in the return to play section of its website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Calgary police to release more details on pro-Palestinian protest
Details on arrests, tickets and charges against a number of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at the University of Calgary will be released on Friday, police say,
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.