Manitobans brace for new pandemic restrictions as COVID case counts rise across multiple regions
CBC
Under pressure to curb the rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Manitoba, health officials are expected to unveil a new public health order on Friday afternoon.
Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said new restrictions are coming to arrest what he described as a disappointing trend: the near-doubling of COVID-19 cases in the space of three weeks.
On Oct. 21, Manitoba was averaging 83 COVID-19 cases per day. On Wednesday, the seven-day average daily case count had risen to 158 cases.
The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 also jumped from 87 to 143 during the same three-week span — a rise of 64 per cent — while the provincewide test positivity rate nearly doubled from 3.2 per cent to 6.2 per cent.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Health Minister Audrey Gordon said public health measures would be updated later this week, leaving the impression Roussin will unveil new restrictions Friday.
Medical experts, epidemiologists and municipal leaders are all waiting with apprehension, as it's unclear which measures the new premier, Heather Stefanson, and her cabinet are willing to approve 20 months into the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases are now on the rise in four of five of Manitoba's health regions, and are only receding in the northern reaches of the province.
"Unfortunately, cases seem to be rising everywhere," said Souradet Shaw, a Winnipeg epidemiologist, in an interview on Thursday.
The notion of containing the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Manitoba by applying new restrictions solely on the Southern Health region — home to the province's highest infection rate and lowest vaccination rate — no longer appears to be a silver bullet.
Shaw said the "next logical step" for Manitoba would be additional means of preventing unvaccinated people from coming into contact with vaccinated people.
Unvaccinated people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 are far more infectious than vaccinated people who contract the disease, numerous studies have concluded.
The problem is the province already prevents unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, bars, movie theatres and professional sports venues.
Dr. Jillian Horton, an internist at the Health Science Centre in Winnipeg, said Thursday the province could focus more on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
From Oct. 9 to Nov. 9, people 19 or under contracted 35 per cent of Manitoba's COVID-19 cases, Shared Health said in a statement.
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