Today is the day that tough new provincial COVID-19 guidelines announced on Friday go into effect.

Of particular importance to health officials are Canadians returning from international travel, including visits to the United States. Those citizens are required to self isolate for 14 days.  However, that has not been happening to the level Premier Scott Moe wants to see.

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

Law enforcement has powers to enforce the isolation rules if they are ignored.

In addition to the isolation requirements for Canadians coming home, other changes become official today.

  • The closure of restaurants, food courts, cafeterias, cafes, bistros and similar facilities.  Exceptions are take out with two-meter 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-meter 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 parlors, 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 a long-term care or personal care home 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.

These new measures are in addition to ones that were already in effect before the weekend, including;

  • 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-meter 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 is being ordered for potentially a wide swath of people.
  • Health Care workers who have traveled 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.