Earlier this week The Pas and District Chamber of Commerce issued a statement that they did not approve of the new provincial COVID 19 restrictions that were implemented in the North over concerns it could affect small businesses. One of the new restrictions includes a ban on in person dining at restaurants.

Chamber president Jill Wilkinson stated in a news release that people in our region have done everything that they have been told to do and the case numbers have gone down in The Pas and area and have only seen a sharp increase in Winnipeg, and therefore does not believe that we should face the same restrictions as the provincial capital.

Arctic Radio received a response from a provincial spokesperson about why these new restrictions are in place provincewide saying quote “case counts have only recently began to drop and there is still lots of travel to the North from the Southern Manitoba and trends in cases can change quickly and its necessary for all Manitobans to stay home to protect our acute care system.