The Saskatchewan Health Authority says it has a plan laid out for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott Livingstone, CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said it will be a three-pronged approach.

The first being containment, which includes detecting the virus as soon as possible, increasing testing, surveillance in hospitals and testing for COVID-19 in all declared outbreaks in care homes.

The second prong is delaying community transmission including people voluntarily self-isolating and aggressive contact tracing for COVID-19 cases.

“We need people to practice good hygiene, wash their hands regularly and practice social distancing,” Livingstone said. “We need people to abide by travel and self-isolation restrictions.”

Finally, the Saskatchewan Health Authority will be looking at mitigating to prevent the spread of the virus.

Livingstone said this includes educating staff on personal protective equipment and how to care for those with suspected or confirmed cases.

“We are also doing this in part by dispelling myths and rumours, basing decisions on guidance from infectious disease and infection prevention control experts and those who have dealt with this on a larger scale,” he said.

Livingstone added that the biggest thing Saskatchewan residents can to do help control the spread is to take all measures laid out by the provincial government and the health authority seriously.