Province promises glimpse of what’s to come Manitobans to get first look at province's plans to reopen for business later this week By: Carol Sanders Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 27, 2020

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This article was published 26/04/2020 (1712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans will get their first peek later this week at how the province will begin reopening for business, the province’s chief public health officer promised, coming on the heels of Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

Dr. Brent Roussin was asked repeatedly about his plans Monday, after Ontario and Quebec — the two provinces hit hardest by COVID-19 — both released their plans earlier that day.

"We spent our time looking at what’s going to work for Manitobans," Roussin said when asked why Ontario and Quebec, and similar-to-Manitoba Saskatchewan, were able to release their plans sooner. "Our plan is Manitoba-focused… It’s going to have some similarities to other plans; it’s going to be unique in other ways."

He would not say which day it will be released or divulge any details, like dates for when non-essential businesses will be allowed to reopen. "We’ll be able to provide those details later this week."

On Monday, Ontario released a three-stage plan for reopening without any specific dates, while Quebec announced dates in May for reopening elementary schools. Last week, Saskatchewan released a detailed plan for some health services to be available May 4, golf courses open on May 15 and hair salons allowed to reopen May 19. Manitoba will follow similar criteria, but its plan will be tailored to the province, said Roussin.

"We’re going to do ours very cautiously here," he said.

Although some research has shown children don’t appear to be "big spreaders" of the coronavirus, reopening schools remains a risk because of the volume of contacts and interactions that would result, he said. "We don’t want more spread of the virus, even though it seems to be less likely in children," said Manitoba’s top doctor.

"It’s not going to be a return to normal," he warned. The pandemic has been a challenging time but Manitobans, so far, have risen to the challenge, said Roussin.

"Our numbers have been stable and reflective of Manitobans’ efforts at maintaining and flattening this curve," he said after one new case was reported Monday — the 29th Manitoban to test positive in the last 14 days, Roussin noted.

"We have not seen signs of community-based transmission or outbreaks in personal care homes. We’ve been able to increase our testing criteria and the health-care system continues to expand in preparation for further cases," Roussin said, making the case for Manitoba being in a position to start reopening soon.

Health officials aim to put a lock on any deadly outbreaks happening at care homes in Manitoba, like those seen in B.C., Ontario and Quebec. By the end of this week, health-care workers in Manitoba will be restricted to working at just one site to prevent the spread of the virus, Shared Health nursing chief Lanette Siragusa said Monday.

On April 9, she said officials were looking to "minimize or eliminate" health-care workers being employed at more than one care home, acknowledging it is a "problem" and a "risk” but the “reality” of how they operate. As of May 1, workers will be limited to one care home, Siragusa said.

"We have been working with all 127 licensed personal-care homes to ensure we are ready," she said.

“We have not seen signs of community-based transmission or outbreaks in personal care homes. We’ve been able to increase our testing criteria and the health-care system continues to expand in preparation for further cases.” – Dr. Brent Roussin

The head of the union representing 14,000 health-care workers, however, isn’t so sure.

No information had been shared with the union or the workers about how the plan will be rolled out, Debbie Boissonneault, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 204, said Monday. Close to one quarter of the 14,000 members she represents work at more than one facility so they can earn enough to make ends meet, said the union leader.

"There’s no answers," said Boissonneault, who spent the weekend fielding calls from concerned members. Workers want to know if they should choose one work site that offers them the most hours and not show up at the others after Friday. They’re concerned not only about getting enough hours to make ends meet, but whether there will be enough staff at all homes to care for residents as a result, she said. Unions have complained for years that funding cuts have reduced the number of full-time staff at care homes, creating a situation that’s hard on workers who have to juggle jobs and residents who have to deal with a revolving door of caregivers.

"I just hope we don’t have a case like Ontario where residents start passing away and the staff aren’t there and we have to call in the army," Boissonneault said.

There will be enough staff with casual agency workers filling any gaps, said Siragusa.

"A lot of work has gone on over the weekend," she said, with health authorities developing plans that will try to accommodate workers. "It is a very tight timeline but it’s important and we’re going to make it happen to the best of our ability."

Overhauling the system to assign health-care workers to just one site may be a positive, lasting consequence of the pandemic, Siragusa noted.

“This is a great opportunity to improve the continuity of care for these seniors,” she said. “There’s a lot of hard things happening, there’s also a lot of great things happening. We want to make sure we leverage those good things and keep it going,” she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.

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