Phasing out phases: Manitoba moves to new system for COVID-19 restrictions

There will be no future phases of Manitoba's rolling back of pandemic restrictions, as the province instead moves to base restrictions on the levels of risk at any given time. 

Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer, said Monday that Manitoba will instead move toward a "rapid response system" in the coming weeks that will base restrictions on the level of risk to public health. 

This means that restrictions will fluctuate depending on the spread of the virus, he said. 

The plan is to also keep Manitobans updated on the indicators the province is basing these decisions on, Roussin said. 

"We just want Manitobans to be able to see what type of things we're following, where we are currently and what they should expect should a trend continue."

Phase 3 of the province's reopening plan began on June 21. It included the lifting of a swath of restrictions, including on occupancy limits of retail businesses, restaurants, bars and beverage rooms. It also increased public gathering sizes to 50 people indoors (up from 25 in Phase 2) and 100 people outdoors. 

Further loosening to come

Roussin said the province is looking at further loosening restrictions for places that are still closed down or unable to open at full capacity. 

"We're looking at how we can open those up and some other loosening restrictions such as outdoor group sizes."

Still, he cautioned that businesses are going to have to live with some type of physical distancing measures for a while. 

He also said he doesn't see large gatherings in Manitoba's near future, especially indoors, given that it is these types of events that have caused outbreaks during the course of the pandemic in other jurisdictions. 

"Those will be the last things to reopen," he said. 

There was only one active case of COVID-19 in Manitoba as of Monday, as the province stretched into its 13th day without a new case.