REGINA -- With less than a week to go before the first step in Saskatchewan’s reopening plan comes into effect, the province has cleared the second milestone in the strategy.

The province reported more than 70 per cent of residents over 30 years old have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Step Two of the Reopening Roadmap is to begin three weeks after the threshold is cleared.

Step Two will see capacity thresholds lifted in retail spaces. Restaurants and bars will not have a maximum capacity for tables.

The limit for private indoor gatherings will be a maximum of 15 people. The limit for public gatherings will be 150, both indoor and outdoor.

Restrictions will ease for conference and banquet halls, casinos, bingo halls, movie theatres, art galleries and libraries.

The current provincewide mask mandate will remain in place.

Step Three is set to begin three weeks after 70 per cent of residents over 18 have received their first shot. Currently, 63 per cent of that group have received a shot.