Manitoba rises to worst new COVID numbers in country

WINNIPEG (CityNews) – After watching neighbouring province’s become overwhelmed by COVID’s third wave, Manitoba is now leading all other provinces, reporting the highest 7-day rate of cases.

“We’re at a critical stage here,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer.

It’s a situation Manitobans found out on Friday, the province would exceed the projected worst-case scenario.

“What’s driving this extreme scenario is people’s behaviours. It’s about those interactions. It’s about not adhering to the orders to its fullest degree. It’s about not listening to the messaging to its fullest degree,” explained Dr. Jazz Atwal, last Friday.

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On Monday, the province’s top doctor had a shorter explanation. “We’ve delayed our third wave here.”

But with that delay, the gift of time. It had some asking: did the province act soon enough while it watched what was unfolding in Alberta and Ontario?

“We’ve always had very strict restrictions on this and we’ve taken steps to make those more strict over time. So I think it’s just the nature of this pandemic, the nature of these variants, that caused a very quick upturn in numbers,” explained Roussin.

Manitoba is now eight days into its latest public health orders that shut down restaurants, gyms and most outdoor sports on top of previous orders that banned all private gatherings.

“All of these things take time, which I know are extremely frustrating for all Manitobans and community members. But I will say we very well could be on the right path because of the restrictions and because more and more people are getting vaccinated,” said Cynthia Carr, Winnipeg Epidemiologist.

Fifty-two per cent of the province’s adult population now has at least one shot, and Carr says it’s essential to provide education and support to those who are hesitant.

Now, in terms of public health orders, we don’t know what more could be coming. That depends on the numbers. But Roussin did not take a full stay-at-home order off the table if needed.