Get ready, Winnipeg: Broad restrictions 'very likely' coming next week

Winnipeg is about to face a new round of restrictions as officials scramble in the face of soaring COVID-19 cases.

It's been nearly three weeks since the city's metropolitan region was moved to the restricted, or orange, level on the province's pandemic response system to slow the spread of the pandemic. Instead, reported case numbers continue to set daily records.

On Thursday, the province announced 173 new cases — 133 of which are in Winnipeg.

"We're going to need to act to be able to bring down these numbers before continued escalation," said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer. "We are going to need to look at more strict measures."

Roussin said the broader restrictions for Winnipeg will likely take effect early next week, though he provided no details about what they may be.

All licensed personal care homes in the Winnipeg metropolitan region were moved on Thursday into the red, or critical, level in the pandemic response system. That means anyone admitted to a care home will need to self-isolate for 14 days once they get there.

It's not likely the Winnipeg metropolitan area will be put into red, but the limitations under the orange level will certainly be tightened, said Roussin.

"We don't have the details  … but in the pandemic response system you can see what orange will look like for multiple sectors," he said.

When the orange level was first instituted on Sept. 28, the province tailored its approach to restrictions by focusing on gathering sizes and mandatory use of face masks.

More measures were added a week later and took effect Oct. 7, such as cutoff times for liquor and dine-in service in licensed Winnipeg-area establishments, and a requirement for customers to leave contact information with staff.

"Because we're seeing widespread community based transmission, that targeting approach is much more difficult now," Roussin said.

Asked if stricter rules could impact retailers, gyms, movie theatres and other non-essential businesses as they did back in the spring, Roussin said "it could, in fact, affect that."

"I would say, expect widespread capacity limitations across multiple sectors."

That will include sporting activities as well, he added, but he does not expect a complete shutdown.

"We want to definitely find ways to be able to continue them, but things like further restrictions in crowds, even on benches, you know, ensuring there's more distancing and people just paying more attention," Roussin said.

"It's always about trying to find that balance."

He was also asked if any schools will be moved into the orange or red levels but could not offer any details about that.

"Public health worked a lot with with schools and they're doing a tremendous job. We haven't seen a lot of transmission in those in those areas," he said. "So I'm not going to confirm what the measures will be, but we'll continue to work really closely with education on that.

"We want to keep kids in school for the most part as much as we can."

Step up enforcement

Roussin said he hopes as people experience the enhanced restrictions and case numbers climb, they will change their behaviours and comply without a widespread lockdown having to be imposed.

But more enforcement and fines could be necessary, he added.

"I do think that we need to focus more on enforcement as we move forward. I think we need to to ensure we have the adequate ability to enforce [the restrictions], and it is something … that we're looking at right now," he said.

Everyone knows by now that to get the virus under control, every single person needs to reduce the amount of contacts they have, Roussin said. But unfortunately, he said, not enough people are doing that.

If they were, there would be no reason for the heightened controls.

"You don't need to be restricted by an order to to take the proper steps to protect yourself and the people around you," he said.

Consequences of social gatherings

To emphasize his point, Roussin gave the example of what he called "the consequences of social gatherings."

On Sept. 11, someone with COVID-19 was at a social gathering. A related case was identified four days later, but that person had been with 13 close contacts by then.

That led to five more cases and 49 contacts. Within 12 days of that single exposure, there were 40 cases and 243 close contacts.

"I think this shows that we have a long ways to improve to get back to those fundamentals. This is why we all have to take steps to reduce the spread of the virus," Roussin said.

"Even if you perceive your risk as not extremely high, your risk is not your own. We spread this virus to our loved ones, to other parts of our communities."