WINNIPEG —
Manitoba’s chief public health officer says there have been many lessons learned from the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Brent Roussin says people want clear, black-and-white messaging, but the pandemic has a lot of grey areas.
Early on, many of the cases in Manitoba involved older people who had travelled.
But recently that has shifted, and more young people are testing positive after coming into close contact with other cases.
Roussin is hinting that new messaging will focus on reducing social mingling, and stressing that even if younger people tend to suffer milder effects, they can still infect other people who are more vulnerable.
Roussin says he’s had a lot of negative feedback about the government’s response — both from people who want more restrictions and people who oppose mask-wearing and want all public venues reopened.
But unlike some of his counterparts in other provinces, such as Dr. Bonnie Henry in British Columbia, he has not received death threats.
Roussin says he even received words of encouragement from the public when news reports emerged about the threats in other provinces.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2020.
