Province turns to police to help fight spread of COVID-19

The Government of Saskatchewan is set to use the law to battle the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Scott Moe signed an order Friday that requires that all citizens of the province to comply with all orders issued by the government when it comes to the virus. If someone is found to be in violation, they can be arrested.

“All police forces in Saskatchewan are authorized to take any reasonable action including the power of arrest to enforce these orders,” Moe told a media conference at the Saskatchewan Legislature. “This means that the full weight of the law and the law enforcement agencies are being placed behind these orders under the provincial state of emergency.

“We all know that the vast majority of Saskatchewan people are taking their personal responsibility very seriously and they are following these orders, but there are a few that are not. I am particularly concerned about some of those who are returning from foreign travel and are choosing to not self-isolate.”

An emergency alert sent out shortly after Moe’s media conference reiterated the self-isolation order, noting a violation of it can result in a fine of $2,000.

Later Friday, the Regina Police Service acknowledged the additional powers it had been given but stressed its goal is compliance.

“Our top priority is community safety,” the release said. “We echo the province in seeking compliance to self-isolation and social distancing, and we expect that can be achieved through education.

“The Regina Police Service is working with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency and Public Health to determine details of enforcement if necessary.”

Saskatoon police noted in a social media post that they had already started receiving calls from citizens warning of others who weren’t self-isolating in the hours following the premier’s announcement. Until a framework is developed with the SPSA, officers are passing the information on to public health officials.

SPSA director Marlo Pritchard said in a media call Friday that he would be working with Saskatchewan’s police chiefs through the night to figure out enforcement.

The province announced Friday there were six new presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, bringing the total to date to 26. Eight of the cases have been confirmed and 18 are presumptive.

Of the new cases, five were detected after returning from foreign trips.

• An individual in their 20s who was tested in Regina following travel to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico;
• An individual in their 20s who was tested in Regina following travel in the U.S.;
• A person in their 50s who was tested in Regina following travel to Jordan;
• Two people in their 60s who were tested in Prince Albert following travel from Arizona;
• An individual in their 60s who was tested in Regina.

The province has stressed that travellers must self-isolate upon their return, but some have not done so immediately. Moe wants that to change.

“This doesn’t mean that you go to the grocery store or go to the drugstore or go fill up with gas and then you go home and self-isolate,” he said.

Dr. Saqib Shahab — the province’s chief medical health officer — said the province will start publishing the airline and seat numbers of any travellers who test positive upon their return. That will give other travellers the opportunity to watch for symptoms.

Shahab also updated the public health order he had issued earlier in response to the pandemic.

Effective immediately:

• Public gatherings of more than 25 people in one room are prohibited except where two-metre distancing between people can be maintained; workplace and meeting settings where people are distributed into multiple rooms or buildings; and retail locations (ie. grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations);
• All nightclubs, bars, lounges and similar facilities are closed. Alcohol or food products can be taken out, with two-metre distancing between customers and the delivery of alcohol or food products;
• In-person classes in all primary and secondary educational institutions, both public and private, are suspended;
• Visitors to long-term care homes, hospitals, personal care homes and group homes is restricted to family visiting for compassionate reasons;
• Everyone who has travelled internationally shall go into mandatory self-isolation for 14 days from the date of their arrival back into Canada;
• Health-care workers who have travelled internationally, as well as truckers, rail, airline or other working crews are exempt from this advisory only if they’re required to work to maintain essential services, provide emergency health-care services and maintain a supply chain, and are supervised by Infection, Prevention Control Officers and/or Occupational Health and Safety in the workplace
• Everyone who has been identified by a medical health officer as a close contact of someone with COVID-19 shall go into mandatory self-isolation for 14 days from the date of last having been exposed to COVID-19;
• Everyone who has become symptomatic while on mandatory self-isolation shall call HealthLine 811 and follow its directives;
• All people who are household members of a person having laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 shall immediately go into mandatory self-isolation, call HealthLine 811 and follow HealthLine’s directives.

Starting Monday:

• Restaurants, food courts, cafeterias, cafes, bistros and similar facilities will close. Exceptions are takeout with two-metre distancing between customers during pickup; drive-through food services; delivery of food products; and soup kitchens, not-for-profit community kitchens and religious kitchens with two-metre distancing between tables;
• All recreational and entertainment facilities including fitness centres, casinos, bingo halls, arenas, curling rinks, swimming pools, galleries, theatres, museums and similar facilities will close;
• All personal-service facilities including tattooists, hairdressers, barbers, acupuncturists, acupressurists, cosmetologists, electrologists, estheticians, manicurists, pedicurists, suntanning parlours, relaxation masseuses, and facilities in which body piercing, bone grafting or scarification services will close;
• Dental, optometrist, chiropractic, registered massage therapy and podiatry clinics except for non-elective procedures will close;
• Daycare facilities will be limited to a maximum of eight children unless they can configure the facility so that a maximum of eight children are kept in a room and be in accordance with the Saskatchewan child care guidelines for care; and,
• Daycares that are co-located with long-term care or personal care homes that meet the above restriction shall be segregated with a private entrance so that there are no shared common areas with the home and no interaction between daycare children and residents of the facility.

Shahab said the steps are the best chance the province has of limiting the spread of the virus.

“This is a very narrow and rapidly closing window of opportunity that we have to really try to prevent as much as we can any local transmission,” he said.