Amid rising COVID-19 case numbers, the Manitoba government has issued more targeted restrictions for the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, which come into effect on Monday, Oct. 19.
These new rules include:
Reducing gathering sizes to five people for both indoor and outdoor public and private gatherings. This excludes household members for private gatherings inside a home;
Closing beverage rooms, bars, live entertainment facilities, casinos and bingo halls;
Limiting capacity at restaurants and lounges to 50 per cent. Tables can be no more than five people with two-metre distancing;
Limiting retail businesses to 50 per cent capacity. Food courts and common areas must adhere to the five-person group size limit;
Reducing the number of spectators at sporting activities and after-school events to 25 per cent of a site’s capacity;
Reducing capacity at museums, galleries and libraries to 50 per cent. These facilities must also collect all attendees’ contact information; and
Gyms and fitness centres must collect all attendees contact information. Everyone at a gym or fitness centre must wear a mask, unless they are doing physical activity.
These restrictions will remain in place for two weeks, at which time the province will reassess the rules.
“At two weeks we are going to need to either extend them or draw back – so we want to make it really clear that the intent of this is strictly time-limited,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, at a news conference on Friday, Oct. 16.
These new restrictions are in addition to the current rules in place for the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, which includes mandatory masks in all indoor public spaces.
The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region has been under orange or restricted levels on the pandemic response system since Sept. 28.
“These restrictions will all be enforceable under the law,” Roussin said.
“We’ve issued fines in the past when required and we will be looking at ways of stepping up enforcing efforts in the coming weeks.”
As of Sunday, Oct. 18, there are 1,436 active COVID-19 cases in Winnipeg, the highest of any region in the province.
