Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
3h ago
Billets were found for all Red Wings players in just four hours.
Saskatchewan residents woke up Thursday to new measures the provincial government hopes will limit the spread of COVID-19.
As of 12:01 a.m., masks became mandatory in all indoor public places in the province.
Masks initially were mandatory only in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Then the provincial government expanded that to all communities with populations of more than 5,000 people, as well as communities close to the province’s three biggest cities.
On Tuesday, the government made mask use mandatory everywhere in Saskatchewan.
The province also restricted private indoor gatherings to five people, down from 10. As well, visitation at all long-term and personal care homes was limited only to compassionate reasons.
The government recommended that all high schools with student populations higher than 600 move to Level 3 of the Safe Schools Plan, which combines in-person and remote learning.
Students are to attend school on alternating days, reducing the contacts between students and staff members.
Regina Public Schools made the move to Level 3 last week. On Thursday, four high schools in the Regina Catholic School Division, four in the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools division and eight in the Saskatoon Public Schools division shifted over.
The new measures are to stay in place until Dec. 17, when they’re to be reviewed by Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer.
The restrictions were implemented due to rising case numbers in Saskatchewan. As of Wednesday, the province had reported 2,420 new cases in November alone, with the number of active cases being reported increasing to 2,099. There were 76 people in hospital.
“Our numbers in this province are not good and the trend is in the wrong direction,” Premier Scott Moe said during a media conference Tuesday. “We have too many new cases, we have too many in hospital and we have too many in intensive care. We need to do what we can to get these numbers down.”
Shahab and Health Minister Paul Merriman are to hold a media conference Thursday at 3 p.m. Listen live here.