Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 3, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMA2 THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022 VOL 151 NO 111 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2022 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Business B4 Classifieds B7 Comics D5 Diversions D6-7 Horoscope D6 Jumble D6 Miss Lonelyhearts D6 Obituaries B7 Opinion A6-7 Sports C1 Television B2 Weather C6 COLUMNISTS: Dan Lett A4 Mike McIntyre C1 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada ISOLATION ● FROM A1 MURDER ● FROM A1 When asked about the change, Premier Heather Stefanson said COVID-positive Manitobans should still quarantine. Calling this a transition period in the pandemic response, she said Manito- bans want to move on. “By all means, people can still wear masks if they want to, businesses can still require proof of vaccine if they want to,” Stefanson said. “It’s going to take a little while to get used to this.” She said the province has followed modelling that shows hospitalizations continue to decline. “We work very closely with public health, and we’ll contin- ue to make decisions, but from what I see, and I said many weeks ago, that we need to learn to live with COVID and I think we need to continue in that direction,” Stefanson said. The virus is not at endemic levels yet, said Winnipeg medical microbiolo- gist Dr. Philippe Lagacé-Wiens. “I don’t think we’re quite ready to be calling this disease fully endemic. It’s certainly heading in that direction, but I’m not quite convinced we’re there yet,” he said. He noted redeployed hospital staff haven’t fully returned to their po- sitions, hospitals are still operating at surge capacity and backlogged surgeries and diagnostic tests haven’t resumed. “There’s a lot of pressure on the hospitals, which tells me that we’re not yet in an endemic phase,” he said, adding it would be more helpful to set targets for certain scientific indicators in order to lift restrictions, rather than setting a date of March 15. The NDP criticized the government for “pushing an artificial timeline,” as leader Wab Kinew put it Wednesday. NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said it’s disappointing the government is removing the self-isolation require- ment without implementing paid sick leave for all employees, without any real justification. “The government can set that tone and be a leader in that way for Manitobans,” Asagwara said. Intensive-care physician Dr. Eric Jacobsohn said the deci- sion to lift certain restrictions, including the self-isolation, mask, and proof-of-vaccine requirements, puts more of a burden on front-line nurses and doctors, and on the most vulnera- ble, immunocompromised Manitobans, at a time when the health-care system is still overrun. “It appears that the way these decisions are made is much more focused on individuals versus step- ping back and looking at the vulner- able in society, and stepping back and saying, are we anywhere near salvaging what is an absolutely dire and distressed health-care system,” Jacobsohn said. “It is about what’s better for the com- munity as a whole. We all agree that the days of lockdowns and business closures are long gone, but how can we all have an open society and allow the dysfunctional health-care system to survive?” — with files from Danielle Da Silva katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com Free rapid tests coming FOUR million free COVID-19 rapid tests will soon be available at Manitoba grocery stores and pharmacies. Deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal said the province is trying to make the rapid antigen tests more widely accessible so that people who are eligible for treatment can get tested and treated in a timely manner. The tests will be given out in packages of five tests per kit starting March 7; Manitobans will be able to pick up two kits per household at partici- pating retailers — a list of which will be posted on the province’s website, Atwal said. Manitoba is also distributing 18,000 free rapid tests to public libraries in Winnipeg and had announced it would give out tests via United Way Winnipeg. Currently, Manitobans must go to COVID-19 testing sites to pick up rapid tests or acquire them through a provincial small-business distribution program. Asked why the province is distributing them to grocery stores now, when self-isolation require- ments are about to be lifted March 15 for COVID- positive Manitobans, Atwal said they hope more people will seek treatment after testing positive. “Hopefully this turns into greater uptake of treatment,” he said. There’s a limited window in which high-risk Manitobans can receive certain antiviral or monoclonal antibody treatment. Depending on the treatment, it must be administered within five to seven days of symptom onset. The first retailers to get the free tests, according to the province, will be: ● Co-ops (42 locations) ● Loblaw/Shoppers Drug Mart (59 locations) ● London Drugs (one location) ● North West Company (29 Locations) ● Rexall (18 locations) ● Save On Foods (five locations) ● Safeway, Sobeys and IGA (40 locations) ● Walmart (16 locations) According to his social media pro- files, Enns was single and a self-em- ployed developer of cryptocurrency financial software and apps. He had worked various jobs in recent years, including tech support and sales. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a bachelor of science, majoring in computer science, in 2003, a LinkedIn profile stated. Friends told the Free Press he was divorced. “He was really smart, a child prod- igy,” said a childhood friend, who had not seen Enns in years. “He was very brilliant. He was en- ergetic and happy,” said Rick Thorn- ton, a friend from London, Ont. “He was a hopeless romantic. He had a bad habit where he wouldn’t put himself first.” In recent months, Enns’ Facebook timeline was filled with posts opposing COVID-19 restrictions. His profile also featured far-out conspiracy theories, cryptocurrency market trends, selfies showing off new hair styles and pic- tures of a BMW car. “He was not afraid to go down the rabbit hole. He would investigate (theo- ries),” said Thornton. Enns told Thornton he became a self-made millionaire a few years ago through cryptocurrency investments, but he no longer had the same wealth. At the time of his death, he was invest- ing in cryptocurrency projects, said Thornton. When they last spoke Friday after- noon, Enns did not mention any plans for that evening or indicate he was go- ing to meet anyone, said Thornton, who learned about his friend’s death when he saw Claudette Enns’ post. By then, Thornton figured some- thing was wrong because Enns hadn’t responded to phone calls or text messages all weekend. “At first, I think I was in disbelief. I started crying,” he said. “I just want to pick up the phone and call him… and I can’t.” He said Enns was excitedly planning an adventure in which he planned to drive across Canada in a truck or rec- reational vehicle. Former neighbour Cathy Rencz recalled the days Enns and her son played together as children in their Waverley Heights neighbourhood in the early 1990s. “Paul was a really sweet kid and super smart. I expected him to become a scientist because he was just curi- ous and asking lots of questions about things, something normal kids don’t do,” Rencz said. Rencz was shocked when she found out Enns had died. “No parent wants to be the one whose child dies before them,” she said, add- ing she doesn’t know anything about what happened or why Enns was with a girl that young. She said Claudette Enns told her the crime scene was awful. Enns’ death is Winnipeg’s eighth homicide of 2022. Last year, the city recorded its eighth slaying in mid- May. Yellow evidence markers were visi- ble in the snow next to a dark-coloured BMW within a police cordon in the parking lot Saturday. Security found the victim and con- tacted police, confirmed Laura Cabak, a spokeswoman for Assiniboine Park Conservancy. “Park security perform regular pa- trols of the park around the clock, 365 days a year,” she said. Cabak said security officers have not received any complaints recently about people or cars being in the park’s parking lots late at night. Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) said residents haven’t complained to his office about crime or anti-social behaviour in the area. He is alarmed there have been so many homicides so early in the year. “I’m gravely concerned at the lack of attention paid to public safety in Winni- peg,” said Klein. Anyone with information about Enns’ death is asked to call the Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anony- mously at 204-786-TIPS (8477). — with files from Erik Pindera and Dean Pritchard chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @chriskitching MANITOBA’S surgery task force failed to keep its promise to pro- vide an update last month. Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the next update will be provid- ed very soon and only when there is substantial information to share. “There is a lot happening behind the scenes, a lot of negotiations are underway and we don’t want to give Manitobans false hope, because as you know they’ve gone through a difficult time in the last two years,” Gordon said Wednes- day. “We want to ensure that when we do come forward with an update that it’s substantial and it provides the hope that Manitobans so des- perately need,” Gordon said. Task force chair Dr. Peter MacDonald and his committee last provided a progress report on Jan. 19, when it was announced that some Manitobans waiting for spinal surgery would be sent to a private hospital in Fargo, N.D. Other initiatives announced that day included moving some gyne- cological operations to the Maples Surgical Centre and changes to screening for colon cancer. A second progress report was expected in mid-February as the task force is mandated to provide monthly updates. Gordon said the task force makes progress daily on the file despite missing its reporting deadline. She said a contract to create a central- ized wait list management system will be announced soon. Doctors Manitoba recently estimated 2,168 surgeries were delayed in December and 5,615 diagnostic procedures were de- layed in January, bringing the total surgical and diagnostic backlog to an estimated 161,585 cases. The number of surgeries post- poned in January is anticipated to be comparable to, or worse than, December. No update, but task force busy: PCs Dr. Jazz Atwal Health Minister Audrey Gordon MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The body of Paul Enns, 43, was discovered in a car in this parking lot off Conservatory Drive at Assiniboine Park, just north of Corydon Avenue, at 3 a.m. Saturday. A_02_Mar-03-22_FP_01.indd 2 2022-03-02 10:31 PM ;