COVID-19 is the No. 1 priority of the Government of Saskatchewan and the road to recovery runs through vaccination clinics. Our Re-Opening Roadmap is a three-step plan to lift public health orders based on vaccination thresholds, availability, and timing between steps.
Step One will commence three weeks after 70 per cent of residents age 40 and above have received their first dose, and once vaccine eligibility has opened to all adults age 18 and older. This will see the cautious easing of public health measures, including:
•Restaurants and bars open, maximum of six at a table, two metres or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed, VLTs may re-open;
•Thirty per cent of capacity or 150 people, whichever is less, at places of worship, with physical distancing between households;
•Group fitness classes involving intense training, like aerobics and spin, can resume, with three metres between participants;
•Current restrictions remain in place for retail, personal care services, event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities;
•Current protocols remain in place for primary, secondary and post-secondary education and for childcare;
•Limit of 10 people at private indoor and outdoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
•Limit of 30 people at public indoor gatherings;
•Limit of 150 people at public outdoor gatherings; and
•Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.
Step Two will commence three weeks after 70 per cent of residents age 30 and above have received their first dose, with at least three weeks passing since the commencement of Step One. Public health measures in Step Two are planned to be eased as follows:
•No capacity thresholds on retail and personal care services, must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing;
•Restaurants and bars will have no table capacity thresholds, must maintain two metres of physical distancing or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed;
•150-person maximum capacity at event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities, must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing, restaurant guidelines apply at venues that serve food;
•No change from Step One at gyms and fitness facilities, primary, secondary and post-secondary education and childcare;
•All remaining restrictions on youth and adult sports will be lifted;
•Limit of 15 people at private indoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
•Limit of 150 people at public indoor gatherings and private and public outdoor gatherings; and
•Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.
Step Three will commence three weeks after 70 per cent of residents age 18 and older have received their first dose, with at least three weeks passing since the commencement of Step Two. In Step Three, most remaining restrictions will be lifted. Guidance on gathering sizes and indoor masking will be developed based on the progress of the first two steps. Public health orders from Step Two on gathering sizes and indoor masking will remain in place until that guidance is finalized.
This plan provides an incentive to follow public health measures and get vaccinated.
Even after hitting these targets, we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible which includes getting a second dose to become fully protected. If acute care pressures require, a re-opening step may be paused to respond to COVID-transmission trends.
As Saskatchewan travels through its roadmap to re-open, this year’s provincial budget has been designed to protect, build, and grow our great province.
The budget protects lives and livelihoods by providing direct funding to fight COVID-19 while investing record levels of funding into health care, education, social services and protection of people and property.
The budget builds with a capital investment of $3.1 billion to help recover our economy and create jobs. There is new funding for new schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, highways, and municipal infrastructure.
The growth of our economy and our communities continues to be a key focus of our government. This budget provides key investments and incentives to achieve that growth while keeping life affordable for families.
Our province has fared better than most through the global pandemic and this budget charts a clear course forward for our province that ensures a strong recovery, and a strong Saskatchewan.
Thanks to our hard-working health care professionals, Saskatchewan has led the country in its vaccine rollout program. As more people become vaccinated and life begins to return to normal, we know that our best days are ahead.
Thank you all for everything you have done over the past year. Please keep protecting yourselves and those around you by following all the public health orders and guidelines and – when it is your turn – roll up your sleeve and stick it to COVID.
