CODE RED FOR ALL OF MANITOBA: What does this mean?
By: Maria Garcia Manzano, Assistant Editor-in-Chief
As of Thursday, November 12th, all of Manitoba was placed under Code Red of the Pandemic Response. This is a result of many Manitobans being unable to follow fundamental guidelines to limit the increase and spread of COVID-19 cases within the province. Dr. Roussin said in the November 10th news conference, due to Manitobans not listening, over 2,000 cases emerged during that week. Thus, further actions are needed to protect Manitobans and protect the health care system from being overwhelmed. The guidelines may seem extreme to some; however, this is the consequence of not listening to the more lenient guidelines.
Yes, the new guideline list seems long and lonely. However, these precautions are being taken in order for schools and childcare centres to remain open safely, and while many parents may feel scared to send their children to school, it is ultimately providing children with a sense of normalcy amidst these unprecedented times. If parents feel their child is at risk under Code Red, some schools are willing to resort to remote learning for the families that require it.
For the small to medium sized businesses that will close as a result of the new guidelines, the Pallister government will be providing some financial relief through the new Manitoba Bridge Grant. This grant will provide $5,000 before Christmas to businesses, Not-For-Profits, and charities that apply and qualify for it. An additional $5,000 will also be given in the New Year. Furthermore, there will be changes made to the pre-existing Manitoba Gap Protection Program -- instead of receiving conditional loans which are expected to be repaid by the business owners that applied for them, these will now become provincial grants instead. Thus, they will not have to repay the province if they have received Federal COVID-19 support.
For more information go to: https://manitoba.ca/covid19/programs/
The following are the Code Red guideline implementations that will last for the next two weeks, although Dr. Roussin admitted that it is more likely to be four weeks:
Social gatherings are not permitted, and social contacts must be reduced to one’s household.
Retail businesses listed as critical services, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, can continue to operate at 25 per cent capacity.
All personal service businesses, including hair salons, barbers and sites offering esthetic services, must close.
Religious and cultural gatherings must close or be provided virtually.
Gyms and fitness centres will close.
All recreational activities, sports facilities, casinos, museums, galleries, libraries, movie theatres and concert halls must close.
Schools remain open and operating under Code Orange guidelines.
For more information on Code Red visit: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs/system/red-critical.html
Brandon residents may think, “We are part of PMH region, and our case numbers are not skyrocketing. Why should we be forced to endure Code Red regulations?” To answer your concerns, yes Brandon and the PMH region have done a good job in lowering our case numbers by following guidelines. However, we must fall in line with the new health restrictions because test positivity has increased across all jurisdictions, meaning that COVID activity is on the rise all across the province. A province wide approach is what is needed to succeed in lowering the number of cases across Manitoba. We have closed the province in this way before and saw success in declining case numbers, we have to do it again and we will once again see success.