Over a year into the novel coronavirus pandemic, and many at home are stir-crazy; but is it OK to travel in Saskatchewan?
The short answer — it depends.
There have been varying calls for people not to travel, to avoid spreading COVID-19 in recent weeks, especially following the Easter long weekend.
However, officials said a lot depends on what you are doing.
“Right now we’re limited to our household groups and who we can interact with and so that’s what we want to keep intact, is those household groups — whether it’s inside or outside in whatever location.”
Goulden-McLeod said Saskatoon saw spikes following the Easter weekend, with some linked to people leaving their bubbles and travelling. Currently, she said the biggest concerns are variants in the city.
In an email to Global News, the city of Regina said it’s asking people to not leave the city unless necessary.
Meanwhile, Tourism Saskatoon said the best bet is to follow public health guidelines.
“The act of travel is not what’s unsafe right now,” said Sarah Berger, director of marketing and communications.
“It’s the actions of people who are moving about the community who may not be following the health and safety public guidelines right now.”
Anti-mask protest drew outsiders to Prince Albert
Case in point: an anti-mask rally was held last weekend in Prince Albert. It was an unwelcome surprise for Mayor Greg Dionne, he said.
Dionne said he was especially surprised after he, a former mayor, and several other locals pored through stacks of photos of the protesters and couldn’t recognize a single face.
He said the most upsetting photo is this group shot below, showing protesters standing close together.
“It’s got seniors, it’s got kids, it’s got everyone all in a group taking a masked picture not realizing they could become a super spreader in our community of the new variant,” an angry Dionne told Global News.
Dionne said he believes many in attendance travelled from Saskatoon, a city currently battling several variants of COVID-19. He said many photos he saw had people wearing hoodies associated with an anti-mask group in Saskatoon.
“That’s what shocks me because we have out there don’t travel,” he said.
“They talk about being a freedom group well how about my freedom, I’m a Canadian too and I live in a city that’s following the health regulations because we want to beat this pandemic.”
Tourism Saskatoon suggested getting outdoors more and finding ways to keep busy closer to home. It said to continue to check and follow Saskatchewan’s public health guidelines.
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