With six new cases of COVID-19 announced today, bringing Saskatchewan's total to twenty-six, Premier Scott Moe took the harshest stance yet on the people of Saskatchewan in enacting the provincial State-of-emergency directive.

In effect, from this point on, any order from the government and Chief Medical Health Officer is no longer a suggestion. It is the law. And with that comes the full authority of law enforcement agencies in Saskatchewan to enforce them.

The Premier looked frustrated, admitting that he was concerned about the number of individuals choosing to return from international travel and ignoring the 14-day self-isolation policy.

“I know that the vast majority of Saskatchewan people are taking their personal responsibility seriously and following this order,” Moe said. “But a few are not. This is not a suggestion. It is not a guideline. It is the law and it must be followed.”

Effective Immediately:

  • Public gatherings of more than 25 people in one room are prohibited except where two-metre distancing between people can be maintained; workplace and meeting settings where people are distributed into multiple rooms or buildings; and retail locations (ie. grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations).
  • The closure of all nightclubs, bars, lounges and similar facilities. Take out of alcohol or food products so permitted with two-metre distancing between customers and the delivery of alcohol or food products.
  • In-person classes in all primary and secondary educational institutions both public and private are suspended.

  • Visitors to long-term care homes, hospitals, personal care homes, and group homes shall be restricted to family visiting for compassionate reasons.

• Mandatory Self-Isolation:

  • Effective immediately, all persons that have travelled internationally shall go into mandatory self-isolation for 14 days from the date of arrival back into Canada.
  • Health Care workers who have travelled internationally, truckers, rail, airline or other working crews are exempt from this advisory only if they are required to work to maintain essential services, provide emergency health care services and maintain the supply chain, and are supervised by Infection, Prevention Control Officers and/or Occupational Health and Safety in the workplace.
  • All persons who have been identified by a Medical Health Officer as a close contact of a person or persons with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) shall go into mandatory self-isolation for 14 days from the date of last having been exposed to COVID-19.
  • All persons who have become symptomatic while on mandatory self-isolation shall call HealthLine 811 and follow HealthLine’s directives.
  • All persons who are household members of a person having laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 shall immediately go into mandatory self-isolation, call HealthLine 811 and follow HealthLine’s directives.

Coming into effect on March 23, 2020, are still harsher measures, including:

  • The closure of restaurants, food courts, cafeterias, cafes, bistros and similar facilities. Exceptions are take-out with two-metre distancing between customers during pick-up; drive-through food services; delivery of food products; soup kitchens, not-for-profit community and religious kitchens with two-metre distancing between tables.
  • The closure of all recreational and entertainment facilities including fitness centers, casinos, bingo halls, arenas, curling rinks, swimming pools, galleries, theatres, museums and similar facilities.
  • The closure of all personal service facilities including tattooists, hairdressers, barbers, acupuncturists, acupressurists, cosmetologists, electrologists, estheticians, manicurists, pedicurists, suntanning parlours, relaxation masseuses, facilities in which body piercing, bone grafting or scarification services.
  • The closure of dental, optometrist, chiropractic, registered massage therapy and podiatry clinics except for non-elective procedures.
  • All daycare facilities are limited to a maximum of eight children unless they can configure the facility so that a maximum of eight children are kept in room and be in accordance with the Saskatchewan child care guidelines for care.

  • All daycares that are co-located with long-term care or personal care homes that meet the above restriction shall be segregated with a private entrance so that there are no shared common areas with the home and no interaction between daycare children and residents of the facility.

In effect, Saskatchewan is now as near to closed as it has ever been in its history.

It's a situation that Moe has called unprecedented, as the number of COVID-19 cases more than doubled in the course of only a few days.

Both Premier Scott Moe and Chief Medical Health Officer Saqib Shahab said in the press conference that once they had seen evidence that these measures are having success at flattening the curve of cases in the province, they would re-examine the measures every couple of weeks.