Manitobans react to phase four reopening draft plan, removal of inter-provincial quarantine

As COVID-19 cases slowly tick upwards in his province, preceded by weeks of zero or single-digit increases, Premier Brian Pallister now has to convince Manitobans that loosening travel restrictions is not only safe, but necessary to get the economy rolling again.

“I think fear is a danger, but rational thinking is not,” Pallister said Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after initially proposing to lift the mandatory 14-day self-isolation requirement for those entering from anywhere in Canada.

“We plan on continuing to lead the country in protecting our people. Nothing that we’re proposing will allow us to depart from that plan.”

Pallister was referencing both the potential removal of the self-isolation requirement and also his administration’s push to have Winnipeg host whatever becomes of this year’s CFL season.

The premier’s stance is that travel — in this case inter-provincial travel — is not a significant risk factor which could result in an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Manitoba in itself. Rather, it’s people not adhering to the “fundamental” public health orders which helped keep case counts low in the province to begin with.

“It concerns me that if people forget the fundamentals that got us here, we’re definitely going to have to take a look at the increasing covid numbers as a direct consequence of that,” said Pallister Wednesday when asked if he was concerned about opening borders as other jurisdictions in Canada continue to see rising case numbers.

Reaction from Winnipeggers at the Forks on Wednesday was mixed. Discussions surrounded if the government should remove the current 14-day self isolation mandate for Canadians living east of northwestern Ontario.

“I think it’s a little bit crazy, I feel like it’s going to get worse if the border does open up,” one resident said.

“I think it’s important to make sure economy keep rolling, as long as it’s something the experts think is safe,” said another.

As of Wednesday, Ontario has around 1,540 active COVID-19 cases, Quebec is currently dealing with nearly 2,000 active cases.

Premier Pallister addressed some concerns, saying consultations with health officials had been done, and also pointed out the phase four reopening plan is at this point a draft, subject to feedback from Manitobans.

1:36 Quarantine enforcement in Manitoba

He said the draft is largely put together based on advice from medical experts combined with consultation from more than 50 business stakeholders, including retail, industry, manufacturing, and various chambers of commerce.

“We listen, we consider, and then we put out a plan based on that. We made dozens of changes in our previous three stages on the basis of the feedback we got from the public,” Pallister says.

“I think our plans are better because of that and I expect this one will be better because of that as well.”

The province is still looking for public feedback on the draft plan, which can be done province’s website. The fourth phase of reopening could start as early as July 25.