Big box of new retail restrictions

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This article was published 19/11/2020 (1758 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba government officials are looking to Vermont as a model for the province’s newest pandemic retail restrictions.

Tory cabinet members, speaking to the Free Press on condition of anonymity to explain internal deliberations, said the “successful public health handling” in the northeastern U.S. region in early spring, “makes the most sense for us to mirror and follow now.”

With COVID-19 cases rising at an alarming rate in Manitoba, officials privy to the conversations between a small cluster of executive decision-makers believe the new measures are “a best-of-both-worlds approach” for the local economy and public health.

While most commerce stakeholders are content to seeing a level playing field for the business landscape — small retailers are not the only ones forced to remain shuttered — epidemiologists in the U.S. and Canada told the Free Press in interviews they’re unsure if the parallels being drawn between the regions will help bring down caseloads.

At a news conference Thursday, Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin joined Premier Brian Pallister to announce new orders targeting busy big-box stores — mandating them to either cordon off non-essential items from being sold in store or remove them from shelves and aisles altogether.

The restrictions will remain in effect until at least Dec. 11. Failure to comply will result in penalties and fines.

The announcement, which confirms previous Free Press reporting, comes after the province faced mounting pressure from business groups and municipal governments to close loopholes and discrepancies created under health orders issued last week.

While the orders only allowed stores that sold essential items to remain open, and asked most small businesses to resort to curbside pickup and delivery, long lines of customers and a multitude of cars in parking lots have been seen this week at large stores (such as Walmart, Costco, Ikea and Best Buy) that also sell non-essential items.

It’s also why Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman wrote to the premier, urging the province to make changes to address “serious concerns about community transmission” from those events. “COVID-19 is not being mitigated as much as possible,” he said in a letter dated Monday, obtained by the Free Press.

The new measures in Manitoba, which started today, come as a result of that pressure and are identical to executive orders issued in Vermont when cases began rising in that U.S. East Coast state in April.

At the time, Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development said the move was made in order to reduce the number of people coming into brick-and-mortar stores amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The state order excluded retailers “serving basic human needs,” such as grocery stores and pharmacies, recommending only they conduct business online and through curbside pickup “to the extent possible.”

Within six weeks, the state began a gradual reopening of retailers in mid-May. In that time, cases began to rapidly drop. By mid-June, Vermont had become the first U.S. state to not report any COVID-19 deaths in the span of a 30-day period.

“I have to say I’m happy those orders were issued here at the time, because people did take it to heart,” said Victoria Hart, an epidemiologist who teaches at the University of Vermont.

“That being said, there’s several things even I’m skeptical about from a scientific perspective before completely saying that’s what stopped transmission rates within our state.”

A second wave of the virus has emerged in Vermont. On Nov. 11, the state reported its highest number of cases — 72 —since the pandemic began.

Still, that number is a far cry from Manitoba’s average daily case counts (475 new cases and eight more deaths announced Thursday).

Dr. Jason Kendrachuk, a virologist who teaches at the University of Manitoba, said he’s unsure about the new measures. Pointing to the difference in population between the regions (Manitoba’s is almost double that of Vermont), he said: “There’s really not enough data to know whether any of this will work — from either region.

“It’s more about how that works within our jurisdiction, how much that’s followed, and whether people actually buy into it and try to actually suppress community transmission by staying home as much as they can.”

Manitoba’s business community is also skeptical, but for socio-economic reasons.

“I think what the government is doing here is trying to figure out what the best way forward is by picking some things and prodding at others to see what fits,” said Chuck Davidson, chief executive officer and president of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but what I’m most keen about finding out is if this is something that will logistically work and if there’s enough time given to people for this,” he said.

“Will people be OK with this? Will they interact well with retail staff when they’re told they can’t buy something? Frankly, I don’t know.”

Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard is fearful about how the measures will affect employment at local retailers.

“We already know that the pandemic disproportionately affected immigrant families and students and women the most,” he said. “And aren’t they also the ones that are most readily employed in retail jobs? I’m worried about them right now and their families… Hopefully, people will understand buying from online giants doesn’t support our local economy.”

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca