Keep Manitoba mask mandate, protesters urge

A group of protesters gathered outside the Manitoba Legislative Building to call on the provincial government to back off its plan to lift the requirement to wear masks indoors.

The group of about two dozen, which included a few physicians, held signs expressing opposition to the province's plan to end the masking requirement as of this Saturday, saying they fear theimpact the changes could have on children under 12 who can't yet get COVID-19 vaccines.

"I think it is a recipe for disaster," said Dr. Lisa Bryski, a retired Winnipeg physician.

Pediatric intensive care units in the United States have issued warnings about thenumber of patients they are receiving, Bryski said.

"This is something to take serious," she said.

"To not listen to that, to not listen to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], which is saying you need masks indoors, to not listen to Dr. Theresa Tam, who is our chief medical officer of Canada, saying, 'Hey, there is a fourth wave that is now upon us this is a big mistake now, to remove masks."

Groups push back against lifting mandatory mask rule

3 years ago

Duration 2:06

A group of protesters gathered outside the Manitoba Legislative Building to call on the provincial government to back off its plan to lift the requirement to wear masks indoors.

During a news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Tam said Canada is "in a slightly precarious period at the moment, in between these people trying to get the vaccines in and reopening.

"As soon as that balance is tipped, and it wouldn't take very much with a highly transmissible virus, you're going to see an uptick in cases."

Manitoba officials announced on Tuesday that under new health orders in effect as of this Saturday, venues likemuseums, galleries and movie theatres will no longer be restricted to fully vaccinated individuals. As well, indoor dining in restaurants will no longer be limited to households or people who are fully vaccinated.

Doug Eyolfson, an intensive care unit physician and a former Liberal member of Parliament, said he was angry when he heard about the provincial government's plans.

Eyolfson says he workedthrough the worst of Manitoba's third pandemic wave, which saw Manitoba sending some seriously ill patients out of province for intensive care due to a lack of capacity here.

The province is now recovering but lifting the health restrictions puts that recovery at risk, Eyolfsonsaid.

"I was hoping that after all of the lessons we've learned during this pandemic that the provincial government would listen to the science and listen to all the knowledge in public heath and epidemiology of what we need to do to stay safe.

"And they're ignoring that for reasons that I can't fathom."

Announcing the relaxedrestrictions on Tuesday, Premier Brian Pallister said Manitoba is "in a good place," with rising vaccination rates, falling COVID-19 case counts and lower numbers of patients with the illnessin hospitals.

Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said that although the pandemic is not over yet, "we have to learn how to live with COVID."

Some businesses, however, have already announced they plan to continue requiring customers to wear masks indoors.

Opposition political leaders, including NDP Leader Wab Kinew and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, have both said they will continue wearing masks in public.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman also said Wednesday that he would continuewearing masks in indoor public spaces, and said mask mandates would remain in place for all City of Winnipeg facilities and Winnipeg Transit.