Roussin cautioning against large Thanksgiving gatherings

The trend of increased COVID-19 cases in Manitoba has the Chief Provincial Public Health Officer discouraging large family gatherings this Thanksgiving.

As of Thursday afternoon, there have been 125 new cases of the virus announced in Manitoba since Monday.

"We're seeing this trajectory truly in the wrong direction right now," Dr. Brent Roussin says. "And we have to take that step back and re-look at the way we're dealing with this virus."

With Thanksgiving weekend now two weeks away, Dr. Roussin says there is an increased risk of transmission of the virus in crowded, enclosed places and through prolonged contact. He notes large family gatherings raise all those red flags and he cautions against them.

"I would really consider not doing that," he says. "When we see the trajectory that we're seeing, especially in Winnipeg, this is really a time when people shouldn't be planning large family gatherings or any type of gatherings."

Back in April, our Chief Provincial Public Health Officer discouraged gathering as families for Easter. He notes we have learned a lot from that challenging first wave, including how to meet virtually.

"We talked about social distancing which should be really physical distancing, keep in touch with people, check-in with loved ones," he recalls. "But we really have to get back to that point where we shouldn't really be having twenty people over at our house right now. This is back to a really challenging time."

Last month, the province elevated Prairie Mountain Health to the restricted level (orange) as the result of rising case counts. Public gatherings there were restricted to ten people, both indoors and outdoors.

"That's what we did in Prairie Mountain Health and so we're definitely looking at that right now in Winnipeg, where we see these numbers," says Dr. Roussin. "We just haven't decided to implement that yet."

He suggests that if Manitobans do not step up and help reverse the recent trend, the province will have to act on it.

This year, Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 12.