Northern travel restrictions due to coronavirus frustrating but necessary: The Pas, Man. mayor

Leaders in the North say travel restrictions to northern Manitoba communities, intended to help protect more vulnerable health systems from the coronavirus, are necessary, even if they might be frustrating for some.

Herb Jacques, mayor of The Pas, told 680 CJOB his community would be quickly overwhelmed by a COVID-19 outbreak, as the hospital in The Pas only has two intensive care beds.

“The RHA (regional health authority) is trying their best to control the situation as best they can,” he said.

“In The Pas, for instance, our hospital is around 100 years old, and Lord knows it should be replaced one of these days.

“If this hit any of us in a bad sort of way, things would get stressful pretty quick.”

The province’s chief provincial health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, announced on Thursday that travel to northern Manitoba has been restricted, with the exception of public health workers, people who live north of the 53rd parallel and a few other groups.

Jacques said he’s been having remote conferences with other northern mayors — including those of Thompson, Flin Flon and Snow Lake — and they’re hoping for more clarity from the province on the measures, which come in place Friday.

“It’s even unclear to us… if we leave the region, will we be automatically able to come back?

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“Yesterday, some of the answers on that were a little bit fuzzy, so we’re hoping for more clarity on that soon.

“How will that border be enforced? How will it impact our residents for comings and goings? We really hope it’s only for a couple of weeks, because this isn’t good for anybody.”

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