Manitoba shuts down eat-in restaurant service, bars and gyms in new public health orders | Winnipeg Sun

Last Sunday, the province admitted 10 new COVID-19 patients into ICU, the highest single-day admission rate during the pandemic. Every day since, that number has been around six or seven new admissions, she said.

Retail can remain open, but only to 10% capacity, including at malls, markets and garden centres.

VLTs must close, as do museums, galleries and libraries.

Faith-based gatherings are prohibited, along with any indoor community or cultural gatherings.

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Personal services, such as estheticians, barbers, salons and tanning salons, must close, along with indoor sports and recreation and after-school activities.

Other sectors impact include dance, theatre and music schools, all of which must close. Day camps are barred.

Self-help gatherings, meanwhile, are limited to a 10-person capacity.

Roussin said the orders are tailored to where they are seeing transmission, but said widespread community transmission means it is circulating throughout the community.

“So we just have to be able to limit where people can gather right now,” he said.

Roussin said the orders alone can’t cover every permutation of daily life. He said it is incumbent of Manitobans to reduce their close contacts.

Roussin also spoke of hope on the horizon with vaccinations getting doled out.

Earlier this week, the vaccination implementation said all roads lead to May 21, meaning every Manitoban aged 12 and up would be able to book their first-dose appointment by that date. Second-dose appointments are expected to begin as early as May 22.

As of Friday, 534,647 doses have been jabbed into arms across the province, representing 41.6% of the currently eligible 18-and-over population.

“This time we do see that hope,” Roussin said. “We do see a summer of high vaccine update and low COVID numbers.”

Why not act sooner?

Criticism of the province has come in hot and heavy in recent days as numbers have risen and questions have centred around why the province didn’t act sooner to thwart the third wave.