Manitoba's top doctor is reminding the public that going for a short walk outdoors, with someone who is not from your household, is perfectly legal.

Aside from a few exceptions, public health orders do not allow gatherings on a residential property involving anyone who does not live there. This includes not only inside one's home, but also their garage and even their yard.

However, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin says that does not mean you can not leave your property and go for a short walk with someone, as long as you follow the fundamentals. That means, nobody should be ill, you must stay at least two metres apart and Dr. Roussin suggests wearing a mask.

According to the public health order, the size of a group outdoors can not exceed five people if individuals come from different households.

On Tuesday of this week, the province announced it was tweaking the public health order, which will now run from December 12 until January 8. It includes the following:

encouraging safe outdoor physical activity for individuals and immediate households only by providing guidance to clarify that people not from the same household need to keep two metres of distance between them and that gathering sizes must not exceed five people;

Last month, the province announced that a person who resides in a private residence must not permit a person who does not normally reside in that residence to enter or remain in the residence, with the following exceptions:

A person may enter a private residence of another person to:

provide health-care, personal care or home care services;
allow a parent or guardian to visit a child who does not normally reside with that child;
receive or provide child care;
provide tutoring or other educational instruction;
perform construction, renovations, repairs or maintenance;
deliver items;
provide real estate or moving services; or
respond to an emergency.

A person who lives on their own may have one other person with whom they regularly interact attend at their private residence and may attend at the private residence of that one person.

A person is permitted to briefly enter onto the exterior portion of a person's property (for example, to drop off a delivery).