Sask. maintains status quo with COVID measures; three fines issued

Saskatchewan is once again staying the course with its COVID-19 measures.

On Tuesday, the provincial government announced the public health order that initially took effect Dec. 17 will be extended for another three weeks, to Feb. 19.

It’s the second time the government has decided to maintain the status quo with its regulations.

When the measures initially were introduced Dec. 14, they were to be revisited Jan. 15. At that point, they were extended until this coming Friday. Now, they’ve been extended again.

On Feb. 19, the public health order will be reviewed by the province’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab.

Under the current regulations:

• Private indoor gatherings are limited to people who live in the same household;
• Outdoor gatherings are capped at 10 people, provided physical distancing between members of different households can be maintained;
• Restaurants can have four people at tables, provided a distance of three metres can be kept between tables;
• Personal services such as hairdressers/barbers, esthetics, massage therapy, acupuncture, tattooing and similar businesses can operate at a maximum of 50 per cent capacity, including staff and clients;
• Casinos and bingo halls are to remain closed;
• Event and arts venues, conference facilities, arenas, museums, movie and live theatres and banquet facilities can have events with a maximum of 30 people in attendance;
• Wedding and funeral ceremonies and worship services are limited to 30 people; and,
• Stores must limit their capacity to 50 per cent. Large retail outlets — those with a square footage of more than 20,000 — are restricted to 25 per cent capacity.

Mandatory masking is still required in indoor public places and non-essential interprovincial travel is discouraged.

“As for our measures, some people say it’s too little (and) some people say it’s too much,” Shahab said Tuesday, “but we do try to strike a fine balance between minimizing cases as long as the guidelines are followed and letting people work (and) enjoy other amenities as much as possible.”

On Jan. 14, both Shahab and Premier Scott Moe said the measures had been successful in lowering case numbers in December before the Christmas holidays. After the break created a bump health officials expected, the government extended the regulations in mid-January.

The number of new cases has decreased slightly since then, prompting the latest extension. On Tuesday, for example, the province announced 232 new cases and a seven-day average for new cases of 254.

“The downward trend does show that if all of us abide by public health principles, it has a significant impact on our case numbers,” Shahab said. “While making measures more stringent would always be an option unfortunately if our case numbers went up, that has to be balanced against the economic, mental health and social costs of strict measures.

“If we can stay the course with our current measures for another three weeks and continue to see a downward trend, I think that would really be a very positive outcome. Then we can reassess (in the) middle of February what should be the plan for the future.”

The Manitoba government put new measures in place Tuesday, including requiring all those entering the province to quarantine for 14 days.

Shahab said Saskatchewan health officials will watch to see what kind of effect the Manitoba measures have, but he said it wouldn’t be practical to follow Manitoba’s lead given the border communities Saskatchewan shares with that province as well as Alberta and the need for people to cross the borders for work.

For Shahab, the simple thing is to follow the rules that already are in place.

“If we want to relax guidelines, a few events can set us all back by weeks,” he said. “It’s up to all of us as customers and as business owners to comply — and the vast majority are complying.”

Fines issued for violations

Three establishments — two in Saskatoon and one in Regina — have been fined $14,000 each for failing to abide by public health orders.

Crackers and the Crazy Cactus in Saskatoon were fined, as was Stats Cocktails and Dreams in Regina.

“Public health inspectors will be supported in their efforts to ticket violators quickly, to ensure that businesses and events are brought into compliance as quickly as possible in addition to the enforcement efforts that have been undertaken by police agencies throughout the province,” the government said in its media release.

Moe previously called for stricter enforcement of the public health orders and said more investigations are underway.

“Issuing fines and penalties are the last resort, but they are necessary at this point,” Moe said. “What we really need and what we really desire is compliance, for everyone to follow all of the public health orders and the guidelines that are in place.

“That is how we will continue to reduce our case numbers so that hopefully in three weeks from now we can start to maybe look at easing some of the restrictions that are in place.”

The government hasn’t always named companies that have been found in violation of the public health orders; their names have more often been reported by media outlets or on social media.

Moe said the province will be releasing their names in the future.

“It’s our hope that we wouldn’t have to release any more as compliance is always the effort, but I had said over the course of the last few weeks that we are going to be (getting tougher on violators) and I was encouraging all of those involved to increase the enforcement,” he said.

“We don’t require additional measures in this province. What we require and what we ask is that everyone follows the existing measures.”