View From the Legislature

Over the past two years there have been many disruptions. The one that has been among the most difficult is when schools have not been able to have in-person learning. While teachers and administrators have done their best during these times to provide quality online and take-home learning, it simply isn’t the same as learning in class.

Since the beginning of this school year, students have been able to be in class most days. And while there are many health protocols in place still, the ability to remain in class this year has been a marked improvement and benefit to Manitoba students. As has often been stated by health officials, wherever possible, schools should be the last thing to close and the first thing to open. Credit goes to all those within the school system who have done a remarkable job in keeping schools safe and open.

With that in mind, decisions related to schools are not made lightly and the decision to delay the return to school after the holidays, even by only two days, was only taken after much consideration. While most students were set to return to school on Thursday January 6th, the Department of Education has pushed the return date back till Monday January 10th. While this is only two school days, it provides a few days to better access the impact of COVID-19 over the holidays as well as distribute rapid testing more widely throughout the province.

In addition, earlier this week it was announced that take-home self-administered rapid tests would now be part of the testing provisions made available at provincial testing sites. There has been a significant increase in testing demand over the past several weeks as the omicron variant has spread quickly, and the rapid tests will help to alleviate some of the pressure on the testing sites and get results to Manitobans more quickly.

As the situation is changing quickly, Manitobans are encouraged to visit the testing information website at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/testing/ to stay up to date both on locations where testing is taking place and when you should get tested.

A special thank you to all the healthcare professionals who were working over the holidays to ensure that Manitobans were able to get the healthcare services they need. This is something that healthcare workers do every year, but it has been an especially difficult year. While many Manitobans were again able to enjoy the holidays together with family, we are grateful for the healthcare and emergency workers who spent time away from those they love to take care of the loved ones of others.

I hope that each of you have a safe and happy New Year.