Libraries, museums get nod to resume
Libraries, museums, art galleries and theatres can reopen on Monday, but a packed house for a summer movie blockbuster remains prohibited.
The Saskatchewan government announced Tuesday the next round of reopenings under Phase 4 of its incremental plan to restore the province’s economy.
The rules for galleries, museums, theatres and libraries are similar to those for other facilities that have reopened amid the COVID -19 pandemic with physical distancing requirements and increased cleaning.
Like places of worship, theatres will be limited to 30 per cent capacity, up to a maximum of 150 people; two metres of space are required between groups.
“I think we’re aware of how we can minimize transmission, but not eliminate it totally,” the province’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said during a pandemic briefing.
“And we’re also aware that the settings, whether it’s in a friend’s backyard, or whether it’s at work or whether it’s at a movie theatre, we all need to self-monitor so we give each other the space.”
Dates for the rest of Phase 4 are expected in the next two weeks, including indoor pools, rinks, casinos and bingo halls.
The province also announced that campgrounds, which had been limited to half capacity, can open completely on Friday. Shuttered locker-rooms, showers and change rooms can also open at gyms, beaches, campgrounds and golf courses.
Changing rooms at clothing stores can also now operate at full capacity. Full-contact outdoor sports are also allowed to resume, but mini-leagues with a maximum total of 50 people are advised.
Amid all the lifting of restrictions, the province imposed a new one: cloth masks are now required for staff working in restaurants and bars, gyms and personal care services like hairstylists if two metres of distance between customers cannot be maintained.
Shahab seemed to push harder on Tuesday for the use of non-medical masks than he has before, even pulling a colourful mask out of his pocket several times during the news conference.
“There’s also good evidence now that if everyone wears a mask in those settings where there’s crowding, mask use can reduce transmission significantly in addition to the two-metre separation,” Shahab said.
The reopening announcements came on a day when the province recorded 11 new COVID -19 cases, including 10 in the far north and one in the Saskatoon region. In the last nine days, 98 new cases have been diagnosed.
Total Saskatchewan cases stand at 753 after nine cases were removed from the province’s total because the diagnosed people did not reside here. Active cases in the far north rose to 53 after dropping to six on June 8.
Active cases in the south region followed, with 35, and then Saskatoon with nine.
Shahab said the active cases were linked mainly to two outbreaks, one from a wake and funeral in the La Loche area (far north) and one on Hutterite colonies in the Rural Municipality of Maple Creek (south). The rise in cases in the far north is linked to transmission within households, Shahab said.
“We are seeing very low numbers of pop-up COVID cases in the rest of the province,” he said. “But having said that, I think we can’t be complacent about that.”
Shahab said testing was also key to proceeding with reopening during the pandemic. Saskatchewan’s testing rate of 46,036 per one million people still lags behind the national testing rate of 65,022 per one million.
The Saskatoon Public Library said it will release details of its reopening plan in the coming days.
Also on Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority released data that suggests people are becoming more comfortable with virtual health care. Nearly 370,000 physician services were conducted virtually between March 13 and June 15, according to information released by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. The data is based on physician billings.
Nearly 19 per cent of Saskatchewan residents connected with physicians virtually during the first three months of the pandemic.
Since March 20, 122,000 video calls have taken place using a secure video platform called PEXIP.
The ministry’s 811 Healthline has fielded 53,000 calls since March 17 and the online assessment site has received more than a million page views. The saskatchewan.ca webpage devoted to COVID-19 information has received nearly 13 million page views.
The toll-free Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency line to nonhealth related pandemic questions received 13,000 calls as of Sunday, with about 1,700 calls on enforcement.