Saskatchewan enters final stage of Phase 4 reopening plan

Restaurants, bars, indoor rinks, pools, and leisure centers.

These are just some of the venues being impacted as Saskatchewan enters the final stage of the Phase 4 reopening plan.

The province gave the green light for indoor pools and rinks to open today. As well, it is easing the occupancy capacity restrictions on restaurants and bars.

Phil Nelson, the owner of Smiley’s restaurant in Saskatoon, said that despite the capacity change they still need to abide by physical distancing rules.

“It’s not drastic changes every day, we have already done the biggest parts of changing. We are set up and ready to go,” said Nelson. “We are pretty fortunate that we have a large building, we are able to physically distance the tables, It’s been okay for us but it could be a challenge for smaller places.”

Smiley’s occupancy won’t be seeing much of a change because of physical distancing rules.

“When they say 100 percent, it would mean about 60 per cent for us,” Nelson added. “The more they open up, the more they give us a little more leeway. The most important thing is to keep everybody safe. We are still required to use physical distancing measures.”

For bars, recreation areas and VLTs are able to be used again as long as they are thoroughly cleaned after use.

Lastly, the casino’s will have to wait until July 9 before they can open their doors.