Provincewide COVID-19 restrictions lifted in Sask.

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Masking no longer mandatory; limits on gathering sizes dropped​


Kendall Latimer · CBC News · Posted: Jul 11, 2021 2:00 AM CT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

An assortment of emotions ranging from unease and caution to excitement and joy have been bubbling up among Saskatchewanians anticipating life without government-mandated public health measures.

The public health restrictions were put in place to help manage COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed at least 570 people in the province.

Those restrictions, including mandatory masking and limitations on gatherings, lifted Sunday.

Now people can choose to return to shout-talking at friends in crowded pubs, walking any direction down grocery store aisles and leaving home without a mask in hand.

Premier Scott Moe has said that the province will no longer look to control COVID-19 through government intervention or restrictions, but instead will rely on vaccines.

As of Thursday, the province had 415 active cases total with 62 people in hospital. The province reported 113 new cases of COVID-19 on that day, the largest single-day increase in cases since the beginning of June.

The government said the rise in cases mostly stems from an outbreak at the Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation, which is located about 850 kilometres north of Saskatoon near Wollaston Lake, a remote area in the far northeastern region of the province.

Slightly more than 50 per cent of Saskatchewan residents aged 12 and up were fully vaccinated, as of Thursday, and just over 71 per cent of that age group had received their first dose.