Household bubbles allowed, most businesses can reopen in Manitoba on Friday

Manitobans can now choose to designate oneother householdto form a pandemic bubble, and businesses except indoor theatres, concert halls, casinos and bingohalls can reopen when new public health orders come into effect Friday.

Indoor recreation facilities such as gyms, pools and fitness centres will be able tooperate at 25 per cent capacity with physical distancing measures in placefor spectators,locker rooms and common areas.

The province had considered eliminatingrules requiring masksfor people in recreation facilities while exercising, but decided to keep it in place for this round of the health orders, said Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin.

The new orders, whichRoussin unveiled during a news conference on Tuesday, will remain in effect untilMarch 25. The government has posted the rules on its website.

"We shouldn't interpret these reopenings as a reductionin our risk," Roussin said, stressing the need to keep case numbers down, as moreeasily transmissible variants of the virus posea threat to the health system.

Restaurants at 50%

Under the rules for household bubbles, all members of both households must agree to only visit each other.

Manitobans can either choose the household bubble option, or can instead continue to designate up to two people to come to their home.

Among the other changes, the limit on outdoor gathering sizes has doubled to 10people.

Restaurants can operate at 50 per cent capacity, but the rule limiting seating tohousehold members only remains in place.

If restaurants were allowed to seat more than one household together, there would be no way for them to avoid seating multiple households together,Roussin said.

"We know that Manitobans want to get out with other people at these restaurants. We just can't have people from different households, multiple households sitting at the same table for prolonged periods of time."

WATCH|Dr. Brent Roussin on single-household seating:

Dr. Brent Roussin on reason for sticking to single-household seating in restaurants

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Dr. Brent Roussin explains why members of household "bubbles" still can't sit together at restaurants and why we should stick to single-household seating.

Gyms and fitness centres willbe able to offer group classes, as a restriction limiting them to one-on-one training has been removed.

While some group-based fitness businesses like cycle rooms will benefit from the lifting of that restriction, the capacity of 25 per centlimits what other small gyms and fitness centres can offer in terms of classes, said Dino Camire, owner ofone family fitness centre and head of the Manitoba Coalition of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada.

"That doesn'tchange much for a business model like mine.With the addition of classes, we just can't run classes," he said.

That could change, if the province raised capacity.

"If they're considering that it's safe enough to go maskless, we propose that it's safe enough to increase occupancy with the continuation of mask use," Camire said.

Other businesses can also operate at 50 per cent capacity, upto a maximum of 250 people.

Placesof worship canreopen at 25 per cent capacity, up to a maximum of 100 people.

Arcades, go-kart tracks, day camps for childrenandchildren's facilitiescan also open at 25 per cent capacity. Dance, theatre and music facilities can open for individual instruction and group classesat 25 a maximum per cent capacity.

Professional theatre, dance, symphony and operacompaniescan resume rehearsals,as long as they are not open to the public.

Concerns about variants

As Manitoba relaxes its public health restrictions, some variants continue to worry public health officials. On Tuesday, the province announced the first cases of the variant first identified in South Africa.

The province also announced one more case of the variant originally found in the United Kingdom.

"It's difficult to predict what the effects of these orders will have, because it all depends on the actions of Manitobans," Roussin said, adding that the presence of variants in the province increases the importance of following public health guidance around wearing masks, physical distancingand staying home when sick.

"But moving forward, if we continue on our trend, we see continued numbers going down," Roussin said.

Upcoming holidays also pose a potential risk. Premier Brian Pallister warned that Manitoba could see another spike like the one after Thanksgiving, if Manitobans don't follow the rules.

"We have to remember Easter's coming, and Spring Break, Passover. These are traditionally times when we like to get together. We're going to have to remember the lessons of last fall as we move forward into the next few weeks," hesaid.

The changes come aftertheManitobagovernment announced last week that it was considering a broad swath of relaxed COVID-19 rules.

Members of the public were invited to offer their feedback on the proposed changes.

Officials began loosening some restrictions to allow for a "slow reopening" of some businesses on Jan. 23 after Manitobans spent months in near lockdown. At first, thechanges applied to all areas but the north. On Feb. 12, restrictions were relaxed further, this time with northern Manitoba included.

Despite those relaxed rules, daily COVID-19 case counts have continued to fall across the province. On Monday, Manitoba posted its lowest daily case count since Oct. 7.

WATCH | Province announces new COVID-19 orders:

Manitoba announces new COVID-19 orders: March 2, 2021

4 years ago

Duration 49:50

Manitoba's premier Brian Pallister and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin, announce the next phase of COVID-19 health orders.