Sask. changes public health orders, returns to household bubbles

Saskatchewan tightened things up Tuesday.

Due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and in cases of variants of concern, the Saskatchewan government announced that, effective immediately, all private indoor gatherings in the province will be limited to immediate household members only.

As well, in-person worship services across Saskatchewan will be capped at 30 people as of Friday at 12:01 a.m.

Those are the same orders the Regina region has been under since March 23. But unlike the Regina area, restaurants and licensed establishment aren’t required to close under the new orders.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said during a media conference the government had hoped to avoid reinstating the measures that had been loosened March 9, but the level of transmission in some areas of the province was simply too high.

“I know some people may be wondering why these measures are provincewide,” he said. “While cases may be low in their part of the province, transmission has been increasing in many areas of Saskatchewan and until more of us get vaccinated, there is a still a chance of catching COVID-19.

“I strongly believe we are getting close to having enough public vaccinations that we can begin to relax public health orders and restrictions, but we’re not there yet.”

The new orders will be in effect until April 26, when they’ll be re-evaluated.

The move comes just six days after the provincial government had extended the previous public health measures to April 26.

Instead, the recent increase in cases of COVID and variants prompted Tuesday’s move.

Saskatchewan reported 288 new COVID cases Tuesday and said 328 more cases of variants of concern had been identified. The biggest day-to-day jump in variant cases was in the Saskatoon area, where 121 new cases were recorded.

“Saskatoon is at the cusp and if, unfortunately, cases continue to rise in Saskatoon, other measures will have to be considered,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer. “Right now, we have to give everything we can throughout the province.”

Pressed on what he meant by “at the cusp,” Shahab said Saskatoon’s numbers are trending up in such areas as cases per 100,000 population, test positivity and incidents of variants.

“Saskatoon needs to do everything it can right now to prevent following the trajectory of Regina,” Shahab said. “At present, it means additional measures, but at the end of the day, it is up to everyone in any community including Saskatoon to really comply fully with those measures.”

The Regina region remains the province’s hotspot for COVID and variant cases. The area reported 117 new cases and 82 more variant cases on Tuesday.

Shahab reiterated people in the area should work from home if they can, gather outdoors when possible instead of indoors, wear the best mask they have and practise physical distancing.

“Really, (we have to go) back to our measures that we had in December,” said Shahab, noting those actions will help until more people are vaccinated.

Saskatchewan’s case numbers have gone the wrong direction since it relaxed measures around the province March 9. The seven-day average of daily new cases has gone from 11.5 per 100,000 to 22.1 and hospitalizations have increased from 139 to 202.

However, Merriman was adamant the government didn’t make a mistake relaxing the rules.

“We made that decision with what we had at that moment and we were confident with the compliance in that,” he said. “The variant throws everybody in the country and around the world a bit of a curveball. It does change things up.

“We had a minimal amount of cases of the variant in the province at that point in time and we made the decision to loosen up restrictions for a temporary period of time (while) at the time saying that these can be tightened up very quickly. And we did respond very quickly when the variants started taking hold in Regina.”

NDP weighs in

NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat issued a statement Tuesday in response to the government’s move, criticizing Premier Scott Moe for not going far enough.

“Many parts of Saskatchewan have far higher case counts than Regina did when this government applied the current restrictions to the city, yet today’s measures are not as diligent as those originally applied to Regina,” Mowat said. “This lack of consistency is causing confusion across the province.”

Mowat said the variants are more harmful than the original strain of COVID, so the government should be doing more to prevent their spread.

“The facts on the ground are changing daily,” she said. “We need to be nimble and proactive in combating this virus, not sit around and give it a head-start while we wait for the government’s Tuesday media events.”