Brandon moves to the Yellow Phase of the #RESTARTMB Pandemic Response
By: Maria Garcia Manzano
On Friday September 18th Brandon MB moved from the Orange Phase on to the less restrictive Yellow phase of the Manitoba Government Pandemic Response system. Back in the middle of August Brandon was forced to enter the Orange phase as cases sky rocketed throughout the Prairie Mountain Health Region with Brandon being the epicentre of the pandemic in Manitoba.
Being placed under the orange phase meant that outdoor and indoor gatherings could not exceed the 10 people limit and that masks were mandatory inside of all Public Places. This took a toll on some people as many did not understand that the mask mandate was placed in order to reduce transmission. Furthermore, parents were confused and angry as to why even thought the city was placed under the orange restrictive phase, schools were opening under the yellow phase requiring students to attend classes across K-12.
Now, as cases have begun to slowly decrease Brandon has been moved to the yellow caution phase and masks are no longer mandatory but they are still highly recommended. Businesses can choose to enforce the mask mandate if social distancing is not possible. Furthermore, gatherings can now take place for a maximum of 50 people for an indoor gathering and 100 people for an outdoor gathering.
Below are some of the guidelines placed by the Government of MB for the Yellow Phase:
**(These guidelines were taken from the Government of Manitoba Website and more information can be obtained from: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs/index.html#provinciallevel
Provincial Response Level: CAUTION
COVID-19 is still a threat across Manitoba, however transmission levels are low. The Chief Provincial Public Health Officer has set the response level to yellow.
•Stay home when sick.
•Practise social distancing, hand washing/sanitizing and cough etiquette.
•Wear a mask in indoor settings where social distancing is not possible.
•Vulnerable people, such as seniors, are encouraged to exercise additional caution.
•Limit group sizes to a maximum of 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors. Larger group sizes will be allowed where participants can be separated into distinct groups that remain separate and where each distinct group remains under the limits above.
•Individuals identified as having COVID-19 or a close contact of someone with COVID-19 must immediately enter mandatory isolation/self-isolation (quarantine) until public health officials advise they can end isolation/self-isolation (quarantine). Additional guidance on self-isolation for confirmed cases and close contacts.
