Cancellations and closures due to COVID-19

Details

Published on Thursday, March 26, 2020

The following are events, businesses and organizations that have been cancelled, postponed, closed, or have altered their operations in some way. We will continue to update this page as more announcements are made.

• Closures and limitations under Manitoba's state of emergency: Limiting ALL public gatherings of 50 or more; retail and transportation businesses MUST ensure one to two metres of distance between customers; limiting hospitality and entertainment venues to a 50 per cent or 50 person capacity, whichever is less; immediate closure of all bingo and gaming events; immediate closure of all wellness facilities (i.e. gyms, fitness centres, etc.). 

• Child Care Centres: "Suspending services at licensed child-care centres, effective end-of-day Friday, March 20; recommending parents with children in these centres begin to make alternet arrangements as soon as possible; continuing to allow home-based child-care providers to operate; creating dedicated child-care options for front-line essential services staff who need them."

• Casinos: "All casinos will close effective midnight tonight, March 17."

• Visitations: "Public health officials are recommending the immediate suspension of visitors in long-term care facilities across Manitoba. Exceptions for compassionate reasons or end of life will be made on a cas-by-case-basis."

• Restaurants: Most restaurants have closed their dine-in areas and are open for take-out, drive-thru and/or delivery only.

• Businesses: All listed businesses are closed to walk-ins, some are still available to be contacted, but their offices are closed to walk-in traffic, some are providing services online, some are closed completely. 

Neepawa- ArtsForward; It's Time Fashion & Gifts; Remax Prairie Mountain; Salvation Army Thrift Store (food bank services still available and donations still being accepted); Westlake Employment Services; Neepawa Area Immigrant Settlement Services (available by appointment); Whitey's Fitness Body Shop; Herbs for Health; Orv's Appliances Sales & Service, MNP, Chamber of Commerce. 

Minnedosa- Minnedosa Town Office; Inspire Studio; Minnedosa & District Recreation Commision office; Service to Seniors (available by phone); Minnedosa Arena; Minnedosa Golf & Curling Club; Minnedosa Community Conference Centre.

Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone- Visit the Westlake-Gladstone municipal website for a full list of closures in the municipality.

• Rotary: Neepawa's Rotary Club meetings are suspended. The Neepawa Rotary Book Sale is also postponed until further notice, however, book bins are still out around town for book donations. Minnedosa's Rotary Club Book Sale has also been postponed.

• Carberry Elks Ham Sale: "Due to the covid-19 virus that has struck the whole world, we are required  to make some changes.The short story is that we cannot carry on with the Easter Ham Sales for this year. With everything cancelled locally, it would not be possible for us to even try to hold our ham sales this year. We will contact all who ordered hams or made a donation."

• Neepawa Library: Neepawa Public Library has closed and cancelled all events until further notice. 

• Area church services: Neepawa– First Baptist Church, United Church, St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Knox Presbyterian Church and Calvary Chapel have cancelled services until further notice. PAC Neepawa has moved to online-only services, other churches plan to make their weekly sermons available online as well. 

Minnedosa– Evangelical Covenant, United Church, St. Mark's Anglican and St. Alphonsus Catholic Church have confirmed cancellation of services. 

Gladstone– Gladstone Christian Fellowship and United Churches have cancelled services.

• Breaker 16: The grand opening of Breaker 16 Equipment Rental, originally scheduled for Friday, March 20, has been postponed to a later date.

• Neepawa Curling Club: "Effective immediately the Neepawa Curling Club is closing for the season. All league playoffs, the club windup and the mixed bonspiel are cancelled. The cash raffle draw will be held as scheduled on March 27."

• Margaret Laurence Home: "Please be advised that our Canada Reads event on Thursday, March 19th, has been cancelled." 

• MPI Road tests: "Manitoba Public Insurance is cancelling all scheduled road tests, effective Saturday, March 14, 2020, until further notice."

• Fine Arts Festival: "The Neepawa and District Fine Arts Festival committee has cancelled the festival this year. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding during this uncertain time.”

• Maple Syrup Festival: “In the spirit of being a community focused organization we must do everything to preserve the health and safety of our community members. We are making an official announcement to cancel the April 4 - 5th, 2020 Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival."

• All MB schools (as of Monday, Mar. 23): The Province of Manitoba has announced that all schools will be closed two weeks longer for spring break, starting Mar. 23. That will mean one extra week before spring break and one extra week after.

• Roxy Theatre: The Neepawa Theatre Centre (Roxy Theatre) has cancelled their movie showings until after Easter.

• All ice sports: All rink events at the Yellowhead Centre have been officially cancelled and the ice will be cleared immediately.

   -Hockey Manitoba: "Following Hockey Canada’s decision to cancel all Hockey Canada- sanctioned activities due to concerns over COVID-19, Hockey  Manitoba has canceled all sanctioned games and programs effective Friday, March 13, 2020." (Note: This covers all hockey games, from high school, to minors, to senior A, such as the Tiger Hills league.)

     -MJHL: "The MJHL, in partnership with Hockey Canada and the CJHL, announces cancellation of the 2020 playoffs, until further notice."

     -Skate Canada: "The Board of Directors has also cancelled effective immediately all other Skate Canada Manitoba sanctioned events including Assessment days, competitions, FunSkates, workshops, clinics, ice shows and carnivals, until the end of March."

• Neepawa Ag Expo: "We decided to cancel the trade show part of the Ag Expo to minimize people in large groups. We will be moving forward with the fundraising portion of the event but this year we will be using NACTV services to broadcast the auction over TV and the internet."

• Neepawa Filipino Basketball League: NFBL is temporarily cancelling basketball games. They will post updates once there are further developments,  the league's Facebook update stated.

Note: This information is not meant to cause panic. We are merely attempting to keep everyone in the loop on this. All these measures being taken are precautionary. Just remember to stay vigilant.

Local medical authorities advise that a person who believes they have Covid19 symptoms should call their local medical clinic. People are encouraged to call their medical clinic, not go there. Testing is being done on people who have been travelling out of country and people they have been in contact with.