Province Announces Proposed Changes to Public Health Orders to Further Restrict Travel
The Manitoba government has announced that it will be amending public health orders to put formal restrictions on interprovincial travel to protect Manitobans from COVID-19 and to help prevent importation of possible variants from other jurisdictions.
On Friday, January 29 amendments to the public health order will take effect to specify that anyone entering Manitoba from anywhere in Canada will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. This includes those entering from northern and Western Canada, and from west of Terrace Bay in Ontario, which under previous health orders did not require self-isolation.
Current exemptions to self-isolation measures are still in effect including those traveling for essential interprovincial work and people travelling for medical purposes. There will also continue to be exemptions for people who regularly travel to and from communities near the borders for essential purposes.
Manitobans currently out-of-province will have until 11:59 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28 to return to the province without being required to self-isolate. If they arrive after that time, they must self-isolate as appropriate on their return.
There are exemptions for Manitoba’s construction industry that will continue to be in place. The province has indicated that “individuals engaged in the construction or maintenance of any building, structure or other project are exempt if the failure to complete the construction or maintenance on a timely basis would pose a threat to persons, property or the environment if they are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19”. These exemptions are mainly focused on commercial, industrial and heavy construction.
Employers should consult with occupational health or Workplace Safety and Health prior to any out of province workers arriving in Manitoba to ensure appropriate steps are taken to mitigate the potential risk to others in the workplace.
The restrictions complement the other limited changes to the public health orders that took effect Jan. 23 and will last for three weeks.