Premier signals date for Step One of Saskatchewan’s COVID reopening plan

An uptick in COVID-19 vaccinations allowed Saskatchewan to put a start date of May 30 on Step One of the Re-Opening Roadmap.

It came Sunday afternoon as the province reported 71 per cent of people aged 40 and older had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.“The road back to normal does lead through one of Saskatchewan’s vaccination clinics,” Premier Scott Moe told the Roy Green Show on Sunday. Step One will see the following changes:

• Restaurants and bars open, maximum of six at a table, two metres or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed, VLTs may re-open;
• Thirty per cent of capacity or 150 people, whichever is less, at places of worship, with physical distancing between households;
• Group fitness classes involving intense training, like aerobics and spin, can resume, with three metres between participants;
• Current restrictions remain in place for retail, personal care services, event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities;
• Current protocols remain in place for primary, secondary and post-secondary education and for childcare;
• Limit of 10 people at private indoor and outdoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
• Limit of 30 people at public indoor gatherings;
• Limit of 150 people at public outdoor gatherings;
• Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.

Moe described it to Green as a modest start to getting back to normal but certainly a sign of things to come.“It’s positive for Saskatchewan and all of Canada (especially) as we see more vaccines arriving in May,” Moe said.Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap relies on people getting vaccinated, with milestones to continue loosening restrictions.

Step Two of the plan will come three weeks after 70 per cent of people aged 30 and over are vaccinated. Moe expects that will come up quickly.“Middle of June is when we should actually go forward with Step Two and likely early to the middle of July when we move forward with Step Three,” Moe said.