‘We are quite happy with where we are’: Sask. premier addresses COVID-19 moving forward

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe addressed COVID-19 recent cases in connection to social gatherings, as well as what COVID-19 policies could look like moving forward into the colder months.

“When we are with our friends or our family at a social gathering we might be a little bit complacent,” Moe said. “Incidents involving social gatherings involving family and friends have led to some of our larger outbreaks.”

Sunday’s provincial COVID-19 announcement said that six of the 14 new cases in the Saskatoon region were linked to a single private gathering.

“If we aren’t careful, and one person in a setting does have the virus they can spread it to a large group of people, please be careful.” said Moe. “It’s how we will continue to keep safe.”

“Please don’t let your guard down. As the weather cools down and we start to spend more time indoors, we have to be particularly careful.”

Moe added that there is no plan to reimpose stricter COVID-19 restrictions heading into the cooler months.

“At this point in time, we are not looking to reimpose restrictions heading into the winter,” said Moe. “We are quite happy with where we are.”

For people who might not have stable housing heading into the fall and winter months, Moe says the government has already started speaking with shelters throughout the province.

“We do have a system in place for people who might not have a home,” he said. “We are working very closely with shelters going into the fall.”

“As we go through this, we have a much better understanding of how this virus is transmitted.”

According to Moe, the most challenging piece over the last six months was when governments were first starting to understand the virus.

“The largest challenge moving forward will be how we handle the colder months. We will be heading back indoors and we will need to make sure we continue doing the good things that we have been doing that have attributed to our success.”