Public health orders – including mandatory masking – could lift as early as July 11 in Sask.
The Saskatchewan government has updated its reopening plan to include a COVID-19 vaccination threshold that would trigger the removal of all remaining public health orders, including the mask mandate and gathering limits.
The government says it will lift public health orders three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 12 and older have received their first dose – and at least three weeks after the beginning of Step Two.
If that threshold is reached by June 20, the province says all restrictions could be lifted by July 11.
“We’ve had the public health orders in place in this province for 445 days. They could all be removed in just a little over a month if enough of us choose to go out and get vaccinated,” said Premier Scott Moe.
This update is in addition to the original Step Three threshold, which will be triggered when 70 per cent of people 18 and older get their first shot.
Step Three would see most public health measures lifted, but gathering limits and mandatory masking will stay in place until the next target – 70 per cent of those age 12 and older – is met.
As of Tuesday, 66 per cent of those age 18 and older have received the first shot, and 62 per cent of people age 12 and older have their first dose.
The government says that while masks will no longer be required under the public health order, people may still wear masks based on their own comfort level and requirements may be in effect in workplaces at the discretion of owners.
The premier drew parallels to the U.S., where large crowds at sporting events – like the Indy 500 – have been allowed as 60 per cent of Americans have received their first dose, according to Moe, where as Saskatchewan currently sits at 62 per cent.
“The U.S. has moved forward with their reopening plan much faster than we have in Saskatchewan – and with lower vaccination rates – and their case numbers continue to fall,” said Moe. “Here, we are taking a more cautious approach with a higher level of vaccinations required.”
Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, said Saskatchewan’s in a good spot.
“I think we are increasingly confident that as long as we keep our case numbers low, comply with our public health measures for the next six weeks…and of course go as high as we can in our first dose and that second dose, I think the outlook looks really good,” said Dr. Shahab.
When asked if the government had given any consideration to waiting to drop all restrictions until more people have their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the premier said he believes the second dose strategy enabled the province to lift the public health measures.
“If you look out to July 11, we’ll be well, well into making those doses available to Saskatchewan people by that point in time,” said Moe.
According to the province’s second-dose strategy, people age 45 and older – or those who got their first dose on or before April 15 – will be eligible for their second on June 21.
Everyone who gets their first dose on or before June 28 will be eligible for their second shot by July 26.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.