Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 30, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A5 THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A 5NEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMIC DONATE NOW Misericordiafoundation.com or 204-788-8458 )$025 #1+ ,1 ,$1.( &$1 $0'( 04/(0*# 30*( 0 %!"- Support Excellence in Eye Care Misericordia is home to the Eye Care Centre of Excellence, the largest comprehensive surgical and treatment program in Western Canada. More than 40,000 patients walk through the Eye Centre doors annually. COVID-19 has drastically increased the demand on Misericordia Health Centre. Things are rapidly changing every day, and this includes the Eye Centre. One thing that won't change: the Eye Care Centre of Excellence will always be open for eye emergencies. Help ensure healthy vision for Manitobans - donate today to the COVID-19 Relief Fund. THE province announced plans Wednesday to slowly reopen its economy, marking Manitoba's first step towards its new normal. But as restrictions begin to ease, a poll suggests it may take some time for Manitobans to warm up to day-to-day activities such as visiting a bar or riding public transit. According to the most recent weekly poll from Leger360 - which tracks Canadians' response to the COVID-19 pandemic on an ongoing basis - more than half of Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents report being comfortable allowing in- home renovations (61 per cent), and returning to places such as shopping malls (60 per cent) and farmers markets (56 per cent). The poll was taken before Manitoba officially announced a plan to re- open the economy. On the flipside, Manitobans appeared the least comfortable returning to daily activities, includ- ing going to the gym (19 per cent), attending large gatherings such as concerts or sporting events (18 per cent), going to bars (16 per cent) and taking public transit (17 per cent). The difference in comfort levels comes down, in large part, to how confined each space appears to be, says Leger vice-president Eddie Sheppard. "Bars and lounges and nightclubs are generally a smaller setting than a shopping mall and places like that, and you're likely to be more hands on," Sheppard said Wednesday. "You're going to the bathroom, you're using the glassware, you're sitting on seats people have been sitting on, so there's kind of an inability to distance yourself from others." Coupled with confinement is the question of per- ceived cleanliness, which hinges on the visibility of cleaning procedures and the public's trust in businesses' commitment to cleaning, he said. "When you go to a mall you can see the wet- floor signs out and you see people cleaning and you're more aware of that, whereas on transit you don't really see that," he said. Comfort with public transit, in particular, has been low since the beginning of the pandemic, he said. Of all regions, Manitoba and Saskatchewan respondents were the least comfortable returning to public transit, but the comfort level remains low across the board, with only one-fifth of all Canadian respondents agreeing they were com- fortable getting back on the bus. In Winnipeg, ridership decreased as much as 72 per cent in April, according to year-over-year data from Winnipeg Transit, resulting in a $6-mil- lion reduction in revenue for the city, decreased route options and widespread layoffs. Despite the perceived lack of comfort from residents, Winnipeg's transit union president Romeo Ignacio maintains that public transit will be critical to the province's economic and social recovery. "If the service is not there, or even if there's not enough service, how are people going to move from one point to the other, especially when we start to open up?" Ignacio said Wednesday. While some residents have the option to drive, Winnipeg Transit has a core ridership of what Sheppard calls "captive riders" - people who have no choice but to take the bus. And more residents are expected to fall into that category as the financial aftershocks of the pandemic catch up with people being called back into work, Ignacio said. "Every time you open up non-essential (busi- nesses) there are a lot more people in the min- imum-wage level that may not be able to actually take their car to go to work," he noted. Public messaging will help restore trust, he said. Because riders may not necessarily see all the public-safety measures in effect on buses, transit operators will need to be clear about how people are being protected. "Transit still plays the same role as it did be- fore, it's just now we are playing it on a different level where we cannot force 70 people into the bus because of social distancing," said Ignacio. "If the city and the province (are) really deter- mined to open Manitoba, the city and the province have to step up and make people aware that we, as a community, are doing everything to jump-start the economy but at the same time make it safe for everyone." julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca @jsrutgers Manitobans cautious about returning to some daily activities, poll shows JULIA-SIMONE RUTGERS O TTAWA - As some provinces considered staggered steps Wed-nesday towards reopening their economies, Prime Minister Justin Tru- deau made clear some of them may ease restrictions at different speeds. Trudeau also stressed that all will follow the guidelines their premiers and the federal government drafted collaboratively to ease the physical distancing that was instituted to com- bat COVID-19 - a joint effort that he branded as an unusual success in Ot- tawa's sometimes strained relations with the provinces. "Every region, every province, every territory is facing a very differ- ent situation right now with different industries, different-sized cities, and different spread of COVID-19. That's why we needed to make sure that the foundational elements were there, that we could all follow as Canadians, but recognize that different jurisdictions will act differently," Trudeau said Wed- nesday. "But there is a common desire right across the country from all premiers to ensure that we're doing this right." Those differences were starkly illus- trated by the fact that Quebec and On- tario, the country's two largest prov- inces, were taking different approaches to easing restrictions amid federal pro- jections released this week that thou- sands more people would likely con- tract COVID-19 and hundreds more could die in the coming week. Canada's two most populous prov- inces account about 80 per cent of the country's known cases of COVID-19, a sharp contrast with other regions, where some light seemed to be ap- pearing at the end of the pandemic tun- nel. Manitoba said it would start easing its physical distancing measures on Monday and allow dentists, physiother- apists, retail stores, hair salons and res- taurant patios to open at no more than half capacity. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Is- land and Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases Wednesday. But P.E.I. said it will remain closed to out- siders for the foreseeable future. Quebec remains Canada's hardest-hit province, announcing 79 new deaths on Wednesday for a total of 1,761, and 837 cases for a total of 26,594. But the prov- ince is nevertheless pushing forward with plans to ease restrictions. The province said Wednesday that stores outside the Montreal region could start reopening on Monday and in the city a week later, while primary schools and daycares are also to re- open starting May 11. The province also said it will remove roadblocks throughout May to certain regions outside Montreal, but not Gati- neau, which is on the Ontario border with Ottawa. The nation's capital has more cases than six other provinces. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief pub- lic health officer, said her provincial and local counterparts are being "ex- tremely cautious" as they weigh what to do in their individual regions. "They will look at how they cautious- ly do any of these relaxations, including schools," Tam said. "It's best to discuss, of course, with Quebec but as I understand it, they're not looking at Montreal. They're look- ing at elsewhere first and the epidemi- ology is different in different parts of Quebec as well." Ontario has said schools will stay closed until at least the end of May and Premier Doug Ford has been adamant that re-opening depends on getting the spread of the virus under firm control. On Wednesday, Ontario reported 347 new COVID-19 cases, and 45 more deaths, bringing the province to a total of 15,728 cases. That was a 2.3 per cent increase over the previous day, the lowest growth rate in weeks. "Provinces have the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their citizens while they look at re-opening and we are comfortable that these guidelines lay out a road map that everyone can follow, the principles that will allow them to put in the measures that will keep their citizens safe while looking at re-opening various parts of the econ- omy, carefully," Trudeau said. Trudeau was speaking ahead of a ses- sion of the House of Commons intended to give rapid approval to legislation au- thorizing $9 billion in promised finan- cial assistance for students facing bleak summer job prospects in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. - The Canadian Press Different speeds for different provinces: PM Pace of reopening economies will vary, Trudeau says MIKE BLANCHFIELD SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all provinces will follow the guidelines their premiers and the federal government drafted collaboratively to ease physical distancing. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitobans appeared the least comfortable returning to daily activities, including going to the gym. A_05_Apr-30-20_FP_01.indd A5 2020-04-29 9:23 PM ;