While there is still plenty of talk about steps to reopen the economy, Saskatchewan’s state of emergency has nevertheless been extended by another two weeks.
That was the news from Premier Scott Moe’s latest news conference with chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab on Wednesday.
“We are still in a state of emergency and we must not be complacent, we must remain vigilant,” said Moe. “Because quite frankly, lives in our community and lives in our province depend on it.”
The current state of emergency is now extended to April 29. While the emergency continues, the latest provincial case numbers continue to be cause for optimism for the province. There were three new cases reported Wednesday along with 18 recoveries. There are now under 100 active cases for the first time since March 26.
“This shows what we are doing is working,” said Premier Moe. “While there is absolutely no reason for complacency, this is reason for us to have some very cautious optimism as we consider gradually and methodically allowing more businesses to reopen.”
There were plenty of questions at the news conference Wednesday about the province’s intentions to present its Reopen Saskatchewan plan next week. Premier Moe made clear there were restrictions the province would not be relaxing any time soon. He indicated they would continue to recommend against unnecessary travel and maintain the requirement to self-quarantine after travel for 14 days; they would continue the restrictions against large gatherings and continue the restrictions on visiting long term care facilities.
These were cited as “high-risk” areas. “We will not be removing those restrictions in the foreseeable future,” said Moe.
With respect to what restrictions the province might be lifting first, Moe said they were looking at businesses, services and recreational activities that would be “low-risk.” That detailed list would come out next week, but he said this is contingent on a number of things including continued strong numbers as well as physical distancing.
The premier added “we are not going to in one fell swoop reopen the economy.” Moe noted a number of businesses were already open, and expectations on physical distancing and keeping customers safe would be the same.
At the news conference there were further questions about the restrictions on mass gatherings and its impact on festivals and upcoming events such as the Grey Cup in Regina.
But Moe made clear they were looking at easing restrictions in low-risk areas. “Those are not low risk, so we are not looking at those at this point in time.”
Currently under the state of emergency, gatherings are capped at ten people. Premier Moe said if this were to be expanded, it would not be to 10,000-15,000 people. Rather, they were looking at creeping it up to maybe 25 or 50.
“COVID-19 is here for a while,” said Moe. What they were looking to do was keep residents safe, but open up “some segments of the economy so we have a functioning economy in the province of Saskatchewan, have a point where we can recover economically from this.”
On the question of the Grey Cup and whether it was something Regina could still be hosting, Moe was not willing to speculate. “I won’t forecast months into the future, we’re trying to actually look days into the future.”
