Saskatchewan’s public health order will be extended to Jan. 31, 2022, the provincial government said Thursday morning.
Under the current public health order, masks are mandatory in all indoor public spaces. Proof of vaccination or negative test requirements are also in place for public access to a number of establishments, businesses, and event venues.
Since the government implemented the proof-of-vaccination policy, over 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, Premier Scott Moe said Thursday.
That, coupled with Saskatchewan residents ages five to 11 starting to get their vaccines, is having a positive impact on the province’s COVID-19 situation, Moe added.
“It is reducing the spread of COVID-19, it’s reducing, ultimately, the pressure on our health-care system, and our new cases and active case numbers are down just over 80 per cent from their peak just a number of weeks ago,” Moe said.
“What we are doing is working collectively across this province but we need to keep doing it a little longer.”
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Moe said by Jan. 31, 2022, the province will have a clear idea about the impact the Christmas season has on COVID-19 transmission rates.
“I don’t think anyone should be under any illusions that these health measures would not be extended at that point in time. They are proving to be quite effective,” Moe told reporters.
Asked if he foresaw a possibility of the proof-of-vaccination policy being removed in the future, Moe said he wouldn’t “preclude what we would consider at that point in time.”
Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Katharine Smart told Global News it’s critical for the provincial government to keep measures in place to protect the healthcare system.
Smart added proof-of-vaccination policies are encouraging people to get vaccinated.
“I think how long (the policy) lasts will really depend on how people step up to be vaccinated and what the numbers are looking like as we move through winter. I think what’s important is that we don’t prematurely lift the restrictions that we have and go into yet another wave,” Smart added.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said there has not been any evidence of large gatherings leading to transmission.
“This just shows that those two measures of wearing a mask and having proof of vaccination or a negative test has made a remarkable difference,” Shahab said.
Shahab added the province is watching other regions like western Europe, the U.S. and other parts of Canada that are seeing a resurgence in cases.
Shahab said he is happy to see younger children getting vaccinated, and encourages all residents to keep up to date on information regarding booster shots.
“It continues to be extremely tragic and heartbreaking for all health-care providers when they have to look after, in many cases, young middle-aged adults, some with children, young children, who unfortunately were unvaccinated, get COVID and ended up needing an ICU bed,” Shahab said.
Shahab added that unvaccinated people shouldn’t be stigmatized.
“I think there’s been a lot of finger-pointing, and I certainly feel that we need to empathize with people who are not being vaccinated,” he said.
Shahab worries unvaccinated people who get COVID-19 may be delaying their care out of fear of embarrassment.
He added that residents should be supporting each other to get their first and second doses.
Shahab added that modelling presented last week shows the province is tracking in “a very satisfactory direction” in terms of case numbers.
He added the seven-day average of daily new cases has been around eight per 100,000 people but he would like to see it go further down, to less than five per 100,000.
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