Indoor pools, casinos get green light to reopen

Indoor pools and rinks, casinos and bingo halls, and live music venues have been given the green light to reopen next week in Saskatchewan.

The provincial government on Tuesday set out dates and guidelines for the remaining businesses under Phase 4 of the Re-open Saskatchewan plan.

“With these reopenings, virtually every kind of business, facility, service and activity in this province are now reopened,” Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday during the government’s regular COVID-19 media update.

Moe added the government is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to expand visitation in long-term care facilities and hospitals, adding there should be an announcement this week.

On Monday, July 6, the following can open: Indoor pools, rinks, recreational facilities, performing arts centres (music, dance and theatre). Also, restaurants can expand beyond 50-per-cent capacity, so long as two-metre distancing can be maintained. Restaurants and pubs can also resume recreational activities, including VLTS, arcade games, dart boards, and pool tables; increased cleaning and disinfection will be required.

On Thursday, July 9, casinos and bingo halls can reopen.

On July 16, racetracks and rodeos can resume; and, restaurants and bars can allow live entertainment and music.

Guidelines for all of these are being, or have been, developed and will be posted to Saskatchewan.ca.

“We can start enjoying some things that we used to enjoy, but at the same time expect to see the occasional case or cluster,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer.

That could be the case in Emma Lake, after a staff member at the Sunnyside Bar tested positive for COVID-19. The SHA issued an advisory about that on Monday; anyone who was at that business on the weekend (June 26, 27 and 28, 4-9 p.m.) should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days.

“We need to be cautiously optimistic but not complacent, and I think there’s a big difference in that ... We are in a good place to reopen,” added Shahab.

Tuesday saw six new positive test results (three in the far north, two in the north, and one in the south); there are 88 active cases recorded. Of five current hospitalizations, one person is in intensive care in the north.

According to data Shahab presented last week, 22 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the province have been asymptomatic.

“That is exactly why we say that even when you’re out and about and not symptomatic ... we have to maintain that two-metre separation, we have to pay attention to hand hygiene and wear a mask if we can’t maintain that two-metre separation,” said Shahab.

“Our concerns about large gatherings and our concerns about mingling, exactly because of that. Because not everyone who is infectious is always symptomatic or may have very mild symptoms. So that’s exactly why we have to practise, all of us, those principles as we move forward.”

Shahab encouraged people to use reusable masks — they don’t have to match your outfit, he added. He also encouraged people to stay home when sick. Coronavirus symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, headaches, aches and pains, sore throat, chills, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, and more.

Moe said mandatory mask use might be a conversation to have during instances of localized outbreaks, before taking more drastic action like closing playgrounds, recreational facilities or businesses.

“We don’t want to get there. So there may be an opportunity in those localized areas to have a temporary mandatory mask order put in place,” said Moe.

Shahab encouraged people to stay close to home this summer, but understand the risks and have a plan if you do decide to travel and possibly get sick. The Saskatchewan government has no restriction on out-of-province travel.

Moe pointed out, Saskatchewan is 76 per cent below the national average on the infection rate.

Saskatchewan’s rate of testing is also much lower than the national per-capita rate of testing, according to Health Ministry data: 49,250 tests per million people in Saskatchewan, compared to 72,406 tests per million nationally.

We need to be cautiously optimistic but not complacent.