The new public health orders follow the 4-3-2 One Great Summer Path to Reopen. Manitoba is expected to reach the third vaccination milestone ahead of schedule; as of today 80 per cent of Manitobans age 12 and over have received their first dose and 75 per cent are expected to receive their second dose over the next week.
Public health recommendations and guidance, rather than restrictions, will play an increasingly significant role as the province prepares for a shift from pandemic to endemic COVID-19. Click here for the full health order details.
Specifically, the new public health orders will allow the following sectors to open without restrictions:
• indoor and outdoor gatherings at private residences;
• gyms and fitness centres;
• libraries;
• personal services such as hair and nail salons;
• day camps; and
• retail businesses, markets, garden centres and malls.
Other sectors will open with limited restrictions including:
• expanded capacity limits will remain in place for weddings, funerals and other public gatherings both indoors and outdoors including larger capacity limits for worship and cultural events like pow wows;
• restaurants and bars will no longer need to restrict the size or space between tables and dining will not be restricted to households or vaccinated individuals; however, patrons will still be expected to avoid congregating or socializing between tables;
• museums, galleries and movie theatres will remain limited to 50 per cent capacity but will no longer be restricted to vaccinated individuals;
• casinos and bingo halls, professional sporting events, horse and auto racing, and concert halls will continue to be limited to vaccinated individuals; however, all these facilities may now open to 100 per cent capacity;
• indoor and outdoor sports and recreation will fully reopen with limits only on spectator capacity;
• overnight camps will be permitted with limits on camper cohorts;
• workplaces must continue to report cases to government for followup and public health-confirmed transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace may result in workplaces being ordered to close for a minimum of 10 days; and
• remote working will no longer be required or recommended by public health and workplaces will be encouraged to transition from COVID-19 safety plans to a general communicable disease prevention plan that focuses on basic risk-reduction principles to reduce the risk of workplace transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
Due to the ongoing presence of COVID-19 in Manitoba and elsewhere, and the extra risk posed by the more contagious delta variant, provincial public health officials strongly recommend the following:
• wearing masks in indoor public spaces for everyone who is not fully immunized including children under 12; and
• maintaining physical distancing of two metres (six feet) in indoor settings.
The new public health orders will go into effect at 12:01 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 7.
The orders will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and will be reassessed at that time in the context of vaccination rates and the province’s overall COVID-19 situation.
For more information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/covid19/.