WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is extending strict public health orders aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19.

With hospitals filling up and some patients being shipped to Ontario, some rules enacted for the May long weekend will remain in place until the end of the week.

That includes no gatherings, indoors or out, except among members of the same household, although there is a small exemption for people who live alone.

Another rule that requires only one person per household to enter a store or other public business will also remain in effect.

Some doctors in the province are calling for tighter restrictions including a stay-at-home order to prevent intensive care units from being overwhelmed.

The province’s intensive care units are operating 50 per cent above their pre-pandemic capacity and 18 patients have been transferred to Ontario in the past week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2021.

The Canadian Press