Beginning on June 21, we may see out-of-province visitors allowed to enter Manitoba with fewer restrictions.
People from areas hit hard by the virus — like southern Ontario and Quebec — would still be required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Manitoba.
But the province is considering a move that would allow residents of Western Canada, Northwestern Ontario, and the territories to enter our province and avoid the 14-day isolation, as long as they are symptom-free and have no known exposure to COVID-19.
Do people in the Parkland feel it’s too soon to relax restrictions for out-of-province visitors? CKDM took to the streets to find out.
Bob from Dauphin says it’s a tough call to make, but feels like it’s okay to welcome visitors because “people are aware of what they have to do, and what they should or shouldn’t be doing,” to limit the spread of the virus.
Amy from Dauphin thinks Manitoba has done a good job keeping case numbers low, and feels there will be a greater risk of more positive cases if we open up to more out-of-province visitors.
She thinks it’s unfair to relax restrictions for some visitors, but not others.
“Ontario is such a big province, but the rest of Western Canada is also large; those people are going to come from BC and Alberta and their numbers are still high — so what’s the difference?”
Many businesses in Manitoba have taken a big hit to their bottom line during the COVID outbreak. As a business owner, Karen from Dauphin thinks we all have to accept some level of risk as we grapple with our new normal.
”Life has to go on, right? [The virus] isn’t going to just go away. So we just have to do this carefully.”
