The Province today announced slightly eased public health orders.

Starting on Saturday, June 12 at 12:01 a.m., provisions will be made for outdoor gatherings with up to five people in public spaces and on private property.

In a news conference this afternoon, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin noted that while up to five visitors will be allowed on private yards, the group should consist of no more than two households in addition to those who reside at the home.

Group sizes on outdoor public spaces are maxed at five people.

Other restrictions remain in place including:
- indoor public gatherings are not permitted and visitors are not permitted indoors on private property, except in certain circumstances;
- requirements for employers to allow employees to work from home as much as possible;
- retail businesses may only operate at 10 per cent capacity or 100 customers, whichever is fewer, and only one person per household will be allowed to enter a business, with some exceptions, such as a single parent with children or someone who requires a caregiver;
- continued requirements for malls to manage capacity and access to eliminate gatherings and ensure compliance with shopping; and
- many businesses and organizations will remain closed for in-person service including gyms and fitness clubs, restaurants and bars (including patios), personal service businesses, museums, galleries and libraries.

“Thanks to the efforts of Manitobans who have worked hard, stayed home, followed the fundamentals and rolled up their sleeves to get a vaccine to protect themselves and their loved ones, we’re starting to see our COVID-19 case numbers trend in the right direction,” said Premier Brian Pallister. “While we are now in a position to allow some small gatherings outdoors, we are not yet ready to restart our services and activities as our health-care system is still facing significant pressures.”

Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools currently learning remotely in the cities of Winnipeg, Brandon and in the Red River Valley and Garden Valley school divisions will continue until the end of the school year, with some small group meetings allowed. Schools in Morden and Dauphin will continue remote learning until June 21.

Although the public health orders allow for outdoor gatherings, people are reminded to minimize the number of people they interact with as much as possible during this time. Physical distancing and masks are recommended in outdoor settings for non-household members. While the risk of transmitting COVID-19 in outdoor settings is lower than indoors, transmission can still occur when there is close contact.

The new orders will remain in effect until Saturday, June 26, at 12:01 a.m. For a full listing of the current health orders, all of which will remain in effect, visit: https://manitoba.ca/covid19/prs/index.html.

“As our case numbers and test positivity rates start to drop and vaccination rates continue to rise, we can start to slowly ease some restrictions to allow people to gather outdoors, where there is a lower risk of transmission,” said Roussin. “But given the demands on the health-care system, we’re not in a position to open everything at once. We know this has been hard, but we need to continue to stay home, work from home as much as we can, follow the fundamentals and get vaccinated as soon as possible to ease the pressure on the health system.”

In a recent feedback survey Manitobans were asked what first steps should be taken to ease public health restrictions while balancing the needs of the health-care system. The survey indicated that 93 per cent of respondents said the ability to gather with friends and family outdoors on private property would improve their quality of life significantly. Additionally, 85 per cent indicated the ability to gather with friends and family in outdoor public places would improve their quality of life. The survey ran from June 4 to 8 and over 33,000 Manitobans participated, the survey report can be found at https://engagemb.ca/restartmb-pandemic-response-system.

Meanwhile, Manitoba has reached a vaccine milestone.

As of today, 70 per cent of Manitoba adults have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

Eligibility for second doses has been expanded to include individuals who received their first dose on or before May 4. Manitobans are strongly reminded that only those eligible to book appointments based on the date of their first dose or other provincial criteria should book second dose appointments at this time.

Meanwhile, Dr. Joss Reimer with our province's Vaccine Implementation Task Force says they always recommend you get the same mRNA vaccine for your second dose as you received for your first dose. That means, if you got Moderna for your first dose, you should be getting Moderna for your second dose as well. The same holds true for Pfizer. Dr. Reimer says these vaccines are considered equivalent, with both being safe and effective.

However, she says the guidance on this has been evolving. And so, if your first dose vaccine is not readily available and you have to wait weeks longer to get your second dose, you may want to consider just getting the first available.

"For example, if you would have to wait weeks longer to get a Moderna shot, compared to when you could book for a Pfizer vaccine or vice versa, we want you to book for the first vaccine available," Dr. Reimer explains. "You do not have to wait to get the same vaccine as your first shot."

Dr. Reimer says the exception to this approach is those aged 12 to 17, who must still only get the Pfizer vaccine for both their first and second dose. That is because so far Pfizer is the only product that has been approved for this age group