Manitoba Government May Relax More Rules During COVID-19 Pandemic

Premier Brian Pallister responds to questions from Manitoba opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew during question and answer period at the Legislative Building on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ruth Bonneville – POOL

The Manitoba government is looking at loosening more restrictions on public and business activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Brian Pallister has released a draft plan for bars, tattoo parlours, dine-in restaurants and other establishments to reopen.

The draft also proposes that film productions and organized sports for adults and youth restart.

There is no date set for the changes, and Pallister says a timeline will be set in the coming days based on public input.

Pallister also says schools might reopen on Aug. 31 to add some teaching days and to make up for lost time this spring.

Manitoba has registered only one new COVID-19 case in the last eight days and the number of active cases has dropped to 23.

As per the news release, “The draft plan for restoring services in Phase Two builds on measures Restoring Safe Services: Manitoba’s Pandemic and Economic Roadmap for Recovery, which set out an evidence-based plan to ease public health measures that had escalated since mid-January.”

Other changes being examined for the second phase of service restoration include:

increasing child-care centre occupancy to up to 24 children plus staffing;
increasing day camp group sizes to 24;
resuming sports activities for children and adults;
lifting occupancy limits at outdoor recreation facilities and golf courses outdoors, as long as physical distancing can be maintained and allowing limited access to indoor spaces;
allowing direct travel to northern parks, campgrounds, cabins, lodges and resorts while ensuring physical distancing;
allowing public/private swimming pools, spas, fitness clubs, gyms and community/service centres to reopen with some limitations;
allowing religious or other organizations to hold outdoor services without limitation on numbers if people stay in their vehicles;
reopening manicurists and pedicurists, tattoo parlours, estheticians, cosmetologists, electrologists and tanning parlours at 50 per cent capacity;
allowing restaurants to reopen indoor spaces at 50 per cent capacity and continue to offer patio services at that capacity level;
allowing bars, beverage rooms, micro-brewers and similar businesses that serve food and drinks to operate patio service at 50 per cent of site capacity and to reopen indoor spaces at 50 per cent capacity; and
allowing the resumption of film productions while ensuring physical distancing.
Other changes include the increasing gathering sizes to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors, and allowing residents of personal care homes and long-term care facilities to have visits outdoors. These changes will come into effect on May 22.
No changes were made to the requirements for reopening hair stylists/barbers, museums, galleries and libraries and parks, campgrounds yurts and vacation cabins.