Phase I of the provincial reopening plan will not go ahead in two Saskatchewan communities affected by COVID-19.
Previously restricted medical services like dentists and optometry will not reopen on Monday, May 4 in Lloydminster and La Loche as planned, said Scott Moe, the province’s premier, at a press conference on April 29.
“We will still proceed with Phase I of the Reopen Saskatchewan plan throughout the rest of the province beginning this Monday,” he said.
Lloydminster has a cluster of 13 cases linked to the Lloydminster Hospital, including five health care workers and eight patients. The province said transmission has occurred in the hospital setting.
As of April 29, 2020, the patients are being moved in separate units in Lloydminster Hospital. COVID-19 patients will still be admitted to Lloydminster Hospital. Non-COVID-19 patients requiring admission may be diverted to another hospital.
In the far north, the province has announced 17 new confirmed cases of the disease. Of those, 11 are in the La Loche.
“I have asked that more extensive testing be done in La Loche and in the surrounding area,” Moe said. “The Saskatchewan Health Authority is in the process of deploying 50 to 100 additional staff and the necessary materials to do aggressive surge testing and contact tracing in that community and in that region.”
The premier encouraged the rest of the province to continue to adhere to public health orders.
“If anyone is taking the Reopen Saskatchewan plan as a signal to relax your personal responsibility to maintain good physical distancing practices, that is a complete misinterpretation of what we have been saying.”
