Premier Scott Moe announced Thursday the province will get a head-start on phase two of the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan for the long weekend, with golf courses and drive-in theaters being able to open May 15.
Moe also said as of May 15, outfitters operating in areas that are not impacted by current travel restrictions are able to begin their operations.
“Our goal is to actually remove these restrictions that are in place,” said Moe.
“We can only do so when we are achieving that collective success across the province,” he added.
The province is set to go into phase two of the plan on May 19. The phase will include reopening retail businesses, shopping malls, select personal services including hairstylists/barbers, massage therapists and acupuncturists, along with farmers markets and public markets.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said the more the province continues to avoid mass gatherings and practises social distancing, the more successful the province will be with moving forward with the remaining phases of the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan.
“We have to be diligent and disciplined about physical distancing and avoiding large gatherings,” said Shahab.
“That allows us to then move cautiously and systematic with our future phases,” he added.
Shahab said the province wants to give at least two weeks in between phases to ensure numbers remain low and contained.
Moe said as the province continues to reopen, increases in COVID-19 testing are crucial to minimizing inevitable localized outbreaks.
“We need to do more testing so that we can jump on these cases sooner and have a lower number of people to actually contact trace,” said Moe.
“In doing so, our outbreaks should be smaller in nature and reduce the risk of them actually expanding to be a province-wide outbreak,” he added.
