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Premier Scott Moe once again is vowing to end all COVID-related restrictions in Saskatchewan.
In a video posted to his Twitter account Wednesday evening, Moe said the time has come to ease all public health measures in the province.
“Eradicating COVID is not realistic and COVID Zero is not achievable, but normalizing COVID or living with COVID most certainly is,” Moe said in the four-minute-40-second video.
“I’m concerned that COVID being the constant topic of conversation and dictating our daily lives will have a negative long-term impact on each of us in this province. And (with) calls for daily government intrusion into people’s lives, the skepticism about anything remotely positive that is related to COVID, this perpetual state of crisis is having a harmful impact on everyone.”
As a result, Moe said the government will look to end that state of crisis, even if more COVID variants are detected in the months and years ahead.
“COVID is not ending, but government restrictions on your rights and freedoms, those will be ending — and ending very soon,” Moe said.
[pt 2/2] pic.twitter.com/b41GeBwrz6
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) February 3, 2022
The government currently requires people to wear masks in indoor public places and to have proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test to gain access to certain businesses and event facilities.
Moe has said repeatedly in recent weeks the government soon will be lifting the proof of vaccination/proof of negative test mandate. He said in the video he believes it’s time for all restrictions to be removed.
“That’s not because COVID has ended; it most certainly hasn’t,” Moe said. “It’s because people understand it better. They understand what they need to do. They understand the risk and they’re prepared to live with that risk more than they are prepared to live with the ongoing government intrusion into their lives.
“Remember when this first started so very long ago? Government measures were supposed to last I think two weeks. Well, it’s been two years — two years of some of the most challenging times for this province and, quite frankly, some of the most challenging times that this world has seen.
“But as we moved through all of those challenges, we learned more about this virus and we learned more about how we can protect ourselves. We learned to assess our risks and we learned to make the right choices for ourselves and our families.”
As well, Moe said, tools to combat the spread of the virus — such as vaccines, antiviral treatments and tests — are available in greater numbers now than they were in the early stages of the pandemic.
As a result, he said the government will be taking steps in the coming days and weeks to manage COVID in the same way it manages other communicable diseases and seasonal viruses.
The Opposition NDP, Saskatchewan health-care organizations and private citizens have decried Moe’s proposed plan to lift restrictions at this time, but he said in the video he and Saskatchewan Party MLAs have heard from more people who want public health measures removed.
So Moe urged people to get vaccinated, to use rapid tests and to stay home if they’re not feeling well. But he also encouraged them to travel, to go to work, to visit friends and to go to their kids’ games.
“You should do all of these things without constantly assessing if your every activity is absolutely necessary,” Moe said. “What’s necessary is your freedom. What’s necessary is getting your life back to normal. And it’s time.”