The announcement that Phase 4.1 of Re-Open Saskatchewan would happen on Monday, June 22 was the main news coming from the province’s COVID-19 news conference on Tuesday.
Included in part one of Phase 4 are child and youth day camps, outdoor pools and splash pads, and outdoor sports and activities. There are guidelines that must be followed including no tournaments or interprovincial travel for sports teams, and no handshakes or hive-fives. Those guidelines are on the province’s website.
As well, indoor gathering sizes will be set at 30 people, the same as for outdoor gatherings.
The dates for part two of Phase 4 are still to be announced; part two includes indoor pools, rinks, libraries, museums, galleries, movie theatres, casinos and bingo halls. Premier Scott Moe told the news conference in Regina Monday that there will be additional re-opening dates announced next week and he expects to have all the re-opening dates announced by the end of this month.
“We are working very hard to get everything re-opened as quickly as possible and also ensuring it is reopened as safely as possible,” said Premier Moe.
There was only one new case reported Tuesday, but 18 were reported on Monday including 13 linked to a funeral and wake at Clearwater River Dene Nation. “It’s a reminder to all of us that COVID has not gone away and we all need to be careful,” said Moe.
He noted Saskatchewan Health Authority was working with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority to do contact tracing or testing of those who attended. The province is also working closely with the chief of Clearwater River Dene Nation and the mayor of La Loche and an action plan is being developed, said the premier. Clearwater River Dene Nation has also implemented an 11 p.m. curfew.
Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, said they are learning more and more that re-opening of phases, if done properly, does not generally cause transmissions to restart. But gathering activities at home settings “where we let our guard down – that is where transmissions continue to happen, not just in Saskatchewan but in other provinces.”
He said if you wanted to truly physically distance, you couldn’t have more than four people in a living room, and to maybe hold events outdoors during the summer. Even if they were outdoors, it was important to space things out to keep the two-metre spacing.
“Be considerate by being apart, while being socially connected. I think that’s going to be really important to have as we move forward, and not have the super-spreader events like we had in March or April.”
There have also been a small but noticeable number of new cases in the past couple of weeks out of Saskatoon. Dr. Shahab said so far all of the cases were accounted for; there were three cases connected to international travel and others related to the household, and a further two cases linked to exposure within the province or outside the province to a known case.
Dr. Shahab also confirmed there was no transmission linked to a massive outdoor rally that took place in Saskatoon, but reminded those who attended to monitor themselves and to seek testing if they feel unwell over the next two weeks.
