All Manitobans 'highly likely' to be exposed to COVID-19 in coming weeks, Dr. Atwal says

Manitoba health officials say every person in the province will likely be exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 sometime in the coming weeks, and the government will shift its focus away from trying to limit the spread of the disease.

"COVID-19 is no longer an emerging illness," said Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer.

"It is here to stay and our ability to contain the virus is limited. It is highly likely that everyone will be exposed to the virus in the coming weeks."

Instead of focusing on individual cases, public health will work to manage risk at the community level, Atwal said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, alongside Premier Heather Stefanson, Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccine task force.

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, the coronavirus has become much more infectious, with a shorter incubation period, making it much harder to contain, Atwal said.

"This is behaving almost like an entirely different virus," he said.

"We would not have been able to contain this virus."

Instead of focusing on new case numbers, the province will instead monitor "system load," Gordon said.

Atwal said one-third of all COVID-19 cases in hospitals right now were admitted specifically due to the illness. The other cases are people receiving treatment for other conditions, but who later tested positive for COVID-19.

Health officials determined the one-third figure by conducting a manual review of all patient charts at one Manitoba facility and looking specifically at the reason for admission, Atwal said.

The premier says the province needs to take a more "balanced" approach to the way it deals with the virus.

"We're going to need to learn to live with this in the longer term. COVID is here to stay," she said.

When asked by reporters whether public health officials recommended more stringent public health measures, Atwal said they "provide recommendations to government, and I think anything further would have to come from government."

Responding to the same line of questioning, Stefanson said too much responsibility had been laid at the feet of public health officials, and she had been reaching out to other groups, including business leaders and pediatricians.