Province appears to change gears on household restrictions

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This article was published 11/11/2020 (1969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Confusion arose about household restrictions just as the entire province is about to be elevated to ‘code red’ on its coronavirus pandemic response system.

CBC reported Wednesday evening that while a Manitoba health order sets the maximum indoor and outdoor gathering size at five people (beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday) the limit doesn’t include people who reside in a household.

That signals a change from a directive Tuesday from Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, which had restricted social gatherings to members of single households.

Following the report, Roussin immediately jumped on social media, asserting even though the directive can’t be legally enforced, it’s absolutely the right thing to do.

Manitobans don’t need a law to do what is right – restrict your social interactions to your household. Not because you’ll be fined, but because it’s the right thing to do to fight #Covid19MB https://t.co/hojK3mRaqE

— Dr. Brent Roussin (@roussin_brent) November 12, 2020

“Manitobans don’t need a law to do what is right — restrict your social interactions to your household. Not because you’ll be fined, but because it’s the right thing to do to fight,” he tweeted. “We don’t have time to waste on semantics and legal loopholes. #Stayhome to stop the transmission of #COVID19. “

A senior government medical source contacted the Free Press with a similar message.

“Nothing is being ‘walked back’, and to report otherwise could hamper public health efforts to get these COVID numbers under control,” the source said.

But Manitoba’s NDP leader Wab Kinew believes one of the most crucial regulations about to go into effect is being weakened.

“The last-minute undermining of Manitoba’s top doctor’s orders could only have been made by the Premier or Health Minister. This is a serious threat to our ability to fight COVID 19 in the province and will only cause confusion and doubt regarding public health measures. It requires immediate explanation and, more importantly, reinstatement,” Kinew said, in a statement late Wednesday night.

— Staff

wfppdf:https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/proactive/2020_2021/orders-soe-11122020.pdf|Latest Orders under The Public Health Act:wfppdf