Premier Scott Moe and Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab unveiled the long-awaited Re-Open Saskatchewan plan on Thursday, which will begin with Phase One on May 4.
As Premier Moe said in a province-wide address Wednesday evening, it will be a five-phase re-opening, and done based on what he described previously as a methodical and phased approach.
Gathering restrictions will remain for the first phase, and the long-term restrictions currently in place on travel, long-term care homes and others will remain in place until the final phase. Premier Moe said in his news conference that they will carefully monitor transmission and other factors and will adjust the plan as required.
“As we move through this reopening process we will continue testing and we will continue contact tracing, and we will keep a very close eye on the numbers, while always remembering that these are not just numbers, they are people and they are Saskatchewan people,” Moe said Thursday.
The re-opening will be gradual, happening over several weeks.
“Over the next several weeks, restrictions will be gradually lifted, adding more types of businesses to the allowable businesses list, meaning they can re-open if they so choose,” Moe said. “All businesses and public venues will be required to continue following good physical distancing and cleanliness practices to protect both their employees as well as their customers. And customers will be expected to follow physical distancing rules, and most importantly to stay home if you are feeling unwell at all.”
The five phases are as follows, as outlined in the news release from the province this morning:
Phase One begins May 4. On that dat medical services such as dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, opticians, podiatry, occupational therapy and chiropractic treatment will be allowed to re-open. All medical service providers will be required to take precautionary measures.
With the weather warming up people will want to spend more time outdoors, and “that’s a good thing as long as its done safely,” said Moe. A number of outdoor recreational activities will be allowable with precautionary measures, including fishing and boat launches starting May 4, golfing with strict physical distancing guidelines starting on May 15, and on June 1 for the operation of parks and campgrounds under clear guidelines. Camping areas will be operating at 50 percent capacity so every other camping spot will be empty, and until further notice will be restricted to Saskatchewan residents only.
Physical distancing and other requirements remain, and size restrictions of public and private gatherings will remain at a maximum of 10 people.
Phase Two begins May 19, and will include the re-opening on that date of retail businesses and select personal services that were previously restricted. These include clothing stores, shoe stores, flower shops, sporting goods stores and electronics stores. Personal services allowed will include hairdressers, barber shops, massage therapists and acupuncturists.
A full list of those businesses and services deemed allowable is included in the plan, and they must follow protocols and physical distancing measures to protect custimers and employees. Size restrictions of gatherings will remain at a maximum of 10 people.
Dates are not set for the subsequent phases, which Moe said will be decided in the weeks ahead based on careful monitoring and the impact of the first two phases.
Phase Three will include re-opening of remaining personal services, with re-opening of restaurant-type facilities at 50 percent capacity, licensed establishments and childcare facilities. There will be capacity limits, such as limits to 50 per cent of regular capacity for restaurants and licensed establishments. Again, all businesses and customers must maintain physical distancing practices, guidelines and recommendations. Other than in those allowable businesses, the size of public and private gatherings will increase to a 15 person maximum.
Phase Four, also at a date to be determined, will be implemented following an evaluation of transmission patterns of COVID-19. This will include the re-opening of indoor and outdoor recreation and entertainment facilities including theatres, casinos, and museums. The size of public and private gatherings will increase to a maximum of 30 people.
Phase Five will be implemented after an evaluation of transmission patterns of COVID-19 and the preceding four phases, and will include consideration of lifting long-term restrictions. Moe said this would be considered many weeks down the road.
Moe acknowledged that some might say it was too soon to consider reopening. But he pointed to the many retail stores that had remained open which had implemented new practices and ensured physical distancing.
“We have not seen major outbreaks that have started at Saskatchewan businesses. We have flattened the curve, even as these businesses have remained open over the last number of months.”
According to their news release, as restrictions are lifted, the government as well as chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab will be monitoring daily numbers of cases and other indicators, which will inform decisions regarding the pace at which the restrictions can be lifted or put back in place if required. Moe said they would monitor their case numbers each and every day and adjust their plan accordingly as required.
Moe also emphasized that several long-term measures and restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Staying in place are: the State of Emergency; recommendations against non-essential international and interprovincial travel; the mandatory 14-day self-isolation following international travel, exposure to COVID-19, or a positive COVID-19 test; restrictions on public gatherings; and the restrictionsat long-term care homes.
The plan does not include service delivery plans for Saskatchewan Health Authority. Resumption of elective surgeries, diagnostics and other non-essential procedures currently suspended will be considered separately, and an update on that will be coming according to the province.
The full Re-Open Saskatchewan plan is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.
In the question and answer session that followed at the news conference, Dr. Shahab was asked if he anticipated an increase in cases.
“As long as people are observing the recommendations and doing physical distancing, hand hygiene, not getting together in breaks to share food, even if there is a case you may get some limited secondary transmission but that is controlled quickly. So I think it will be essentially that if we do see transmission in those settings, we are able to control that quickly. That means that as soon as someone is symptomatic they self-isolate and call HealthLine for testing.”
He added “we will see ongoing transmission, we hope that it will remain as low as possible, we want to see the curve remain flat during the reopening phase, and we want to learn from that and provide continuous feedback.”
Premier Moe was also asked if the lack of a precise date for Phase Five meant they could not plan for Rider games or for Country Thunder to happen this summer. Regarding Phase Five, Moe responded “those dates would be determined as to the results we see in the implementation of phase one and two.”
“This needs to be primarily about keeping Saskatchewan residents safe, but it also is focused on finding that right path, finding the path on how we can open up some sectors of the economy that have not been allowed to be opened up over the last number of weeks and allow people to get back to work. So the results during phase one and phase two will ultimately determine the dates for future phases, so I don’t think it’s a time yet to comment on large public gatherings, we just don’t have the information at this point.”
