Few options remain as COVID-19 persists By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2020 (1436 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer made something very clear this week when he announced that existing public-health orders would extend into January: this is as far as the province is willing to go with its pandemic restrictions. At least for now.

Despite ongoing COVID-19 caseloads Dr. Brent Roussin describes as “unsustainable,” the province can only go so far in regulating Manitobans’ behaviour, he said. It’s now up to the public to comply with the rules and bring the numbers down.

There is some realism to that position. After nine months of punishing restrictions, including two lockdowns, there may be a breaking point with the public at which additional measures could have little effect. The restrictions in place now are significant; short of closing down manufacturing plants, construction sites and public schools, there’s not much left to restrict. Even if the idea of a curfew were resurrected, would the public comply?

Even if the idea of a curfew were resurrected, would the public comply?

Still, by throwing its hands up and saying there’s nothing left it can do, is government not conceding that it’s willing to accept existing levels of hospitalizations and deaths? Under the current restrictions, which are not expected to change between now and early January (save for a few modifications, including some minor loosening of the rules), caseloads have largely plateaued. The province’s test positivity rate has remained above 13 per cent for weeks, and the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 continues to climb.

Manitoba now has the second highest deaths per capita in the country. If those metrics haven’t improved under current restrictions, what makes government believe they will get better over the next month? With the risk of people lowering their guard over the holidays, those numbers will very likely get worse.

Government has an obligation to at least take some action to help reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. That should include reinstating the self-isolation rule for anyone travelling to and from western provinces and northwestern Ontario. That would bring those rules in line with travel to and from eastern provinces. Failure to do so not only promotes the spread of the virus between jurisdictions, people are more likely to travel if they know they don’t have to self-isolate upon return home.

Government should also make a concerted effort to get more of its own employees to work from home. There have been reports that many civil servants are still working in offices when some could work remotely.

Government has an obligation to at least take some action to help reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Public-health officials say they are detecting higher levels of transmission in some lower-income neighbourhoods, such as Point Douglas and the core area. If that’s so, the province needs to do far more to provide appropriate supports and improved communications in those neighbourhoods to help reduce the spread of the virus.

Dr. Roussin has said repeatedly that under current caseloads, hospitals will eventually be overwhelmed with patients. It’s not good enough to maintain existing levels of transmission, he said. The numbers must come down.

However, leaving it solely up to improved public compliance, especially at this time of year, is unrealistic. Government must take further steps to find ways to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The risk that hospitals could become so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients that Manitobans are turned away for basic care is unacceptable.

Putting health-care workers at greater risk than they already are is not an option. Allowing Manitoba’s pandemic death rate to climb even further is unconscionable.