New COVID related restrictions for Prairie Mountain region

Details

Published on Thursday, August 20, 2020

By Banner Staff 

There are new restrictions being put in place within the Prairie Mountain Health region, due to COVID-19. Starting Monday, Aug. 24, gathering sizes in the area will be restricted to 10 and masks will be mandatory in public places. 

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said at a news conference today that the increased restrictions are due to Prairie Mountain being elevated to the orange level under the new pandemic response system.

“We continue to see increasing numbers in the Brandon region and we are seeing increasing community transmission as well. We’re hearing of many reports of large gatherings in parks, family gatherings, as well as religious gatherings,” said Dr. Roussin. “Due to the increased number of cases, as well as community transmission, as well as the significant reports of gatherings, the Prairie Mountain Health region is being elevated to the restricted level or orange in our pandemic response system immediately.”

Dr. Roussin noted during the news conference that more details are forthcoming to clarify the situation.

“It is a rapidly changing situation. It’ll take some time to facilitate these measures. So while the elevation to the restricted level begins immediately, the following restrictions will be implemented on Monday, [Aug. 24]. Group size will be reduced to 10, both indoor and outdoor. Masks will be made mandatory for indoor public places, as well as any public gatherings and more details will be coming later this afternoon.”

There were 33 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Manitoba on Thursday, 17 of them in the Prairie Mountain Health region. Currently, there are 116 active COVID cases in Prairie Mountain, with 100 of those in Brandon.