Manitoba's top doctor says it is imperative that we all adjust our holiday plans yet again.
Three days after tighter restrictions gripped Manitoba, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin pleaded again for the cooperation of Manitobans.
"Now more than ever Manitobans need to follow the public health orders, the capacity limits," he urges. "We need to limit our contacts with others."
This message comes on the day that Manitoba announced an all-time daily high for new COVID-19 cases. Dr. Roussin says it will be in the neighbourhood of 750. Dr. Roussin says the Omicron variant is highly transmissible and with the very high case numbers, he anticipates this will place significant strain on our health care system.
And though no new restrictions were announced today, Dr. Roussin says it is only a matter of time.
"I think it's very likely we're going to see more restrictions," he says. "Manitobans need to prepare that next week we're not going to be having large gatherings."
As of Friday, there were 135 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19, including 90 people with active COVID-19 as well as 45 people who are no longer infectious. There were a total of 24 Manitoba patients receiving intensive care for COVID-19, including 18 people in intensive care units with active COVID-19 as well as six people who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care.
According to Dr. Roussin, over the course of the pandemic, the rate of ICU admissions to overall case counts has remained relatively stable at about 1.5 per cent of all cases requiring ICU. Based on that, one could anticipate that approximately 11 Manitobans will be admitted to ICU based on today's numbers alone.
Dr. Roussin says if you have multiple gatherings planned for this weekend, you should adjust that. He says instead of four gatherings, you should attend one and instead of inviting 10 people to your house, he suggests cutting that number. Further to that, Dr. Roussin suggests those over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions should be staying home.
Meanwhile, he says considering the strain on testing facilities and how transmissible the virus is, younger Manitobans who feel the symptoms of the flu, should just assume they have Omicron and stay home. He is referring to those under the age of 40, without underlying conditions.
"If you have respiratory symptoms, flu-like symptoms, you can assume you have Omicron," he says. "You can stay home and isolate, you don't necessarily need to go get testing, but for sure stay home and isolate for those ten days."
Also today, Manitoba announced that the wait from second dose to third dose is being shortened for those over the age of 50, from six months down to five months.