Province weighs reopening options

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This article was published 24/04/2020 (2134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba could begin to creak open its doors as early as May amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the province’s top doctor said Thursday.

Saskatchewan announced Thursday morning its plan to loosen restrictions and reopen non-essential businesses. The plan is to reopen in five phases, beginning on May 4. The first phase will reopen medical services and low-risk outdoor recreation such as boating and fishing that is restricted under the current public health order.

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief medical officer of health, told reporters he had a chance to briefly review Saskatchewan’s plan, and said Manitoba’s plan could look similar.

“Certainly, we’re going to review that more in detail, but that looks along the lines of the kind of the plans we’ve been looking at,” he said.

Roussin couldn’t provide a specific date as to when restrictions could loosen in Manitoba, but said May is a realistic timeline.

“The details on exactly what that looks like, we’re still working it out,” he said. “We’re still following these numbers daily, but that’s a type of timeframe we’re looking at right now.”

Regardless of whenever restrictions begin to loosen, Roussin stressed that those coming from outside the country will still have to self-isolate for 14 days. Medical services such as dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, occupational therapy and chiropractic treatment could be open with modifications such as screening and proper hand hygiene.

There are “multiple steps” that can take place to ensure these kinds of services are taken care of safely, he said. 

Rather than whipping open the province’s doors, Roussin said a careful approach would be taken. 

“We’re going to do it very cautiously and very slowly, and it’s going to be according to what the numbers tell us going forward.”

With talks of loosening restrictions, Roussin said there would be more enforcement in terms of following the loosened restrictions.

“Some non-essential businesses will still be restricted in some matter that will allow for social distancing,” Roussin said. “The enforcement and oversight will be important as we move toward that.”

The province announced five new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, the most in one day since there were 12 announced on April 11. All five cases are Winnipeg residents — two people in their 20s, two in their 30s and one person in their 80s. The five new cases bring Manitoba’s total lab-confirmed positive and probably positive cases to 262.

There are currently seven people in hospital, with two in intensive care units. This is down from Wednesday’s numbers, which had three people in ICU. There have been three people who have recovered from COVID-19 who were in ICU. Roussin said the average length of stay in ICU for patients is 11 days. There are 82 active cases in the province, with 174 recoveries.

The province completed 327 tests Wednesday, bringing the total to 21,387 completed. Roussin said testing capacity is where it should be, but there has been a decline in demand for tests. He advised that if testing numbers continue to be lower, they will expand the criteria for testing as soon as next week.

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