Schools will not be returning in 2019-2020 and supplemental learning will continue for the rest of the school year, the Ministry of Education said Thursday morning. Under the direction of Chief Medical Health Officer Saqib Shahab, classes will not take place until at least September.

“The Response Plan Team of the Government of Saskatchewan will continue to collaborate with Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer to determine a safe return. So I thank you all for your patience as we navigate the future of education in Saskatchewan,” Minister of Education and Deputy Premier Gord Wyant said in a media teleconference Thursday.

Wyant thanked the team and the members from the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA), the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation and other partners from the education sector. Wyant said that the team is working to analyze scenarios should classes be able to commence or not in September.

“They are looking at all different possibilities, I can tell you they are working very hard and working very well together to find the best path forward for the delivery of education in September. We will continue to rely on the advice of the Chief Medical Health Officer but the team is working on all different kinds of scenarios. I can also tell you that they are collaborating with our education partners in other provinces to see what they are doing so that we can have the best possible response,” Wyant said.

The Response Planning Team is working with education sector partners to begin work on what in-class learning may look like this fall, although the timelines will depend on the safety of everyone in Saskatchewan schools, including students, teachers and school staff.

“We are certainly hoping that school can re-commence in September. That would be our goal but of course, based on the advice of the Chief Medical Health Officer if that is not a possibility than we will have to continue what we are doing. But I can tell you this that in terms of the Supplementary Learning which is happening now we are continuing to work on Supplementary Learning opportunities so that in the event that school can’t commence in September we will have a robust plan for delivery of public education,” Wyant said.

Lorel Trumier, the director of education for the Prince Albert Catholic School Division, said that they became aware of the cancelation ahead of the announcement. She explained that she was not surprised by the announcement because of the current outbreaks in the north and far north. Trumier said that the division was in good standing to continue with Supplemental Learning.

“We have 90 per cent of our students opted in to engage. So we are feeling really good that we will be able to continue this work. I know that our teachers are working each day to get better at this Supplemental Distance Learning that we are providing,” Trumier said.
As for September, Trumier said that they are prepared for any scenario that could develop.

“We are going to turn our attention to what does the fall look like and we are going to be ready for whatever is required. If our students are going to be doing a distance learning program we are going to be ready for that. If our students are going to return to school we are going to be ready for that. We are also going to engage our families in surveying them if they want to choose one of the different models based on what is appropriate from the Public Health order,” Trumier said.

Trumier explained that they will work with families in the division based on their comfort level when September comes.

“One of the things that we are trying to structure is there might be some students or families who are reluctant to come to school in September and we also work with them through a distance learning approach until they feel comfortable to come back to the school,”

Coming back to school does not need to be an all or nothing approach, Trumier said. They have already begun to plan a survey for the families in the division.

“Not only are we going to survey our families right away about how they are feeling and what they are hoping for and we are going to look for opportunities to enhance what we are doing for them, but we also want to make sure that they know that we are going to support them and we are going to respect their decision when it comes,” she said.

There is also planning under way for online registration on the division’s website. The hope is to have it ready by early next week.

Saskatchewan Rivers School Division director of education Robert Bratvold was also not surprised by the announcement

“We are well on our way with the supplemental learning journey and teachers and support staff are doing fantastic work,” Bratvold explained.

He said the division is in a good place to make the adjustment with student learning as the focus.

“One of the significant challenges I see is the potential for students to lose interest/engagement now that the weather is warming and the resumption of classes is not a possibility. We will take this challenge on together with students, staff and families, as we do with all of our challenges,” he said.

Wyant said that for students in Grade 12 who want to improve their grades, supplemental learning is available as many students were concerned about that.

“I can also tell you that there has been conversations between our sector and post-secondary in terms of admittance of Grade 12 students to university in these circumstances. So there are ongoing conversations,” Wyant said.

Wyant emphasized that they are going to continue to encourage learning and teaching until the end of June and the school divisions will determine what is in the best interest of the students.

“We are leaving this up to the educational professionals,” Wyant said.

Wyant explained that if teachers are having challenges with Supplemental Learning to reach out to their division or principal. The Response Planning Team and administration in divisions are in constant contact.

“There is no playboook for this so we are doing the best we can,” he said.

Wyant has confidence in all parts of the sector to work together to get proper resources.

“It’s new for students, it’s new for teachers and we have to recognize that and that we are providing the right support,” he said.

There are often challenges around delivery of supplemental learning because of socioeconomic or technological and rural connectivity. Wyant explained that the Ministry is aware of these challenges. He was encouraged by partnerships in Saskatoon with SaskTel and other innovations.

“We need to know where those are, as the challenges come up we try to address them but as I said there is no playbook for this and really what we need to end up doing is seeing what those challenges are and doing our best to address them.”

Wyant said that the Ministry is aware that some divisions are using paper packages to address these issues.

“We know that there is a lot of different opportunities but online learning is a key and we just need to make sure that it is being provided and to the extent that we are having some challenges, we just need to know that we are still providing those resources,” Wyant said.

“We are in contact between the Ministry of Education and SaskTel about this to ensure that there is appropriate bandwidth because we know that throughout the province there is a real demand of bandwidth given the fact that a lot of people are working from home now,” he said.

For those students graduating this year, school divisions are working with graduates and staff to consider virtual graduation ceremonies and possible postponements as well, as public health orders remain which prevent more than 10 people from gathering together.

“We know that graduation ceremonies and celebrations are important to so many families, and we extend a warm congratulations to all of Saskatchewan’s Grade 12 students and we wish them the very best in their futures,” Wyant said in the province’s release.

After spending most of his career in the Prince Albert area, Superintendent Randy Emmerson is taking the next step in his career.

Emmerson will be the next director of education for the Sun West School Division in West Central Saskatchewan. Emmerson thanked director of education Robert Bratvold for his guidance.

“I think for my career I have the opportunity to be the director and the incredible mentorship and the incredible relationship and the opportunity to work with Robert Bratvold who is just an amazing person,” Emmerson said.

“When I have seen what he has done and seen the approach that he has, having the opportunity to perhaps do that in a school division that is very progressive, very innovative it was an opportunity I felt that I needed to explore and as I got deeper into the process I am really excited by the opportunity to lead and to lead that division in particular.”

Bratvold also had kind words for Emmerson as he prepares to leave.

“It’s sad news for our division and our senior leadership team to lose someone of Randy’s calibre,” Bratvold said.

“It is also exciting we have got one of our team members that has got the qualifications and ability and capacity to lead the school division in the director of education role and that’s an exciting thing for him to be able to accomplish. We will miss him in the division absolutely but we are excited for him to take that next step in his career goals.”

“The other thing for me personally I know that he will be part of the Directors of Education group that gathers regularly across the province so I will still be able to maintain good connections with Randy as he pursues his new role,” he added.

“Randy brings many of years of experience to Sun West as a teacher, a school administrator and as a Superintendent, Sun West board chair Karen Itterman said in a media release.

“He has a strong background in distance learning, which is very important in Sun West. We are very happy to have Randy join our school division as we continue our learning journey.”

Emmerson will replace retiring director Guy Tétrault and his last day with the division will be July 31. He will begin his duties with Sun West August 1.

Emmerson heard a few years ago that Tetrault may have been retiring, but the circumstances weren’t right.

At the annual policy convention for senior school administrators in March, he found out that the position was still not filled. The family was driving to Medicine Hat to watch daughter Mackenzie play basketball in the Alberta colleges playoffs a few weeks later. The road trip went through Rosetown and he mentioned that it was the base of Sun West. His family asked if the position was filled and he confirmed it wasn’t and the family asked if he applied.

Later in the weekend he and his wife Angie had a talk about the position and she offered her full support. Then COVID-19 led to the suspension of classes and changed the energy and focus in senior administration.

“I reached out and just said ‘hey, the situation we are in doesn’t let me fully invest right now, but I want you to know I have some interest,’ and that started the process. They have a three-step process and the final step was on Monday, April 27 when I went down for a properly distanced opportunity to meet with the board and make a presentation. Their decision came last week,” Emmerson said.

“The professional situation, the personal situation just the circumstance or coincidence that it even came up in conversation at that point in time. Things aligned and they have aligned for me very well throughout my career and this is another opportunity for me to that benefit,” he added.

Despite the job being located in Rosetown, he will still call Prince Albert home. He has been very active in community projects in Prince Albert where he coached basketball, volleyball, football, soccer and the Special Olympics.

“I have been so fortunate to work with amazing people with things like the Alfred Jenkins Fieldhouse and Friday Night Lights bringing lights to the Prime Ministers Park,” Emmerson said.

“Those have given me opportunities to work with and learn from community-minded people that gave for many decades. I have really had opportunity to be involved so it is a pleasure. And it is why Prince Albert is home, it’s why the job is going to take me away but we are keeping Prince Albert as home.”

Angie works at SaskPolytech in Practical Nursing. With family still here, Prince Albert will continue to be home for Emmerson.

He has been a Superintendent with Saskatchewan Rivers since 2014 and was Principal of Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI) from 2004 to 2013. His current responsibilities in Saskatchewan Rivers include curriculum, assessment, educational technology, staff development, athletics and libraries as well as supervisory responsibility for 10 schools including PACI.

Emmerson moved to Prince Albert in 1978 when he was in Grade 9 and went to school in the city.

He started his teaching career teaching Social Studies and English Language Arts in Unity before returning to Prince Albert and has lived in the community for 35 years.

“It is quite a long association, a relationship with the school division right from the time our oldest started Kindergarten at Arthur Pechey until our youngest graduated two years ago from Carlton. We have had kids in school for approaching 20 years. It has been a long time and we have had many great teachers, I mean great is too trivial of a word, we have had absolutely amazing connection with the school in that sense as well,” Emmerson said.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Educational Studies from Flinders University of South Australia. He has been married to his wife for 31 years and has three daughters.

Emmerson explained how he couldn’t thank the community enough for his personal development and support along his journey.

“As much as I am anticipating what I am heading to work for the roots are here and my appreciation for Prince Albert it has always been high, we have got a great community, we have got a spirit here that’s second to none and we do look forward to continue to be a part of that as this next phase of my career unfolds,” he said.

The Prince Albert Roman Catholic School Division made some decisions around the upcoming 2020 school board elections — deciding to follow the guidelines set by the City of Prince Albert. At their regular meeting by teleconference on Monday, May 4 the school board was given a number of options before deciding how to go ahead with the election.

“Historically that is something that is done and has been done. We know that the electors in this community will follow that stream of thought and will understand locally. There is usually an alignment with civic elections,” director of education Lorel Trumier said.

The school board election will be held on November 9 with the nomination deadline date set for October 7. The board will continue with one rural and six urban trustee positions. According to administration, the cost of the election is $55,000. Administration has had preliminary meetings with the City of Prince Albert and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division to discuss particulars of the election.

At the meeting, the board voted on a number of items sent to them for consideration. All votes were unanimous by the board on Monday. Like the Saskatchewan Rivers Division decided last month, the Returning officer will be the City Clerk for urban seats. The Ballot will be alphabetical by surname as opposed to the option for alternative arrangement such as rotation. Rotating ballots would cost the school division $5,500 and administration recommended alphabetical order. The City does not require occupations on ballots and the administration recommended no resolution to include occupations on the nomination paper and ballots which was also approved. The school board voted not to have disclosure requirements for campaign contributions or spending limits recommended by administration.

The board also voted not to return the deposit of $100 to all candidates whether they win or lose. The options included returning the entire amount, retaining the candidates fee or return to those successfully elected. The City selected option three and the administration made that recommendation.

There was some discussion around previous procedure because the policy may prevent people from running. The deposit is required by the Local Government Election Act.

The board eventually decided to vote on the motion though they could have delayed it until their next meeting on Monday, May 25.

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating uncertainty in the education sector.

At their meeting on Monday, May 4 the board of the Prince Albert Roman Catholic School Division were presented with a number of annual events or meetings that had been canceled.

Trumier explained that in the current reality everyone, including divisions, are reactive instead of proactive.

“Nobody likes operating in a reactive mode especially to something as serious as COVID. I think the world is coming to understand that this is well beyond any school division, well beyond any organization, any business. This is a global pandemic and I sense that with our staff and our parents and our students, our families, that everyone is willing to do what they need to do and we need to tell them they are doing the right thing,” director of education Lorel Trumier said.

She explained that the division is not surprised to be identifying cancelled events or cancelling events of their own at this time.

One such event that has become a tradition is the Diamonds and Pearls Fundraiser at the l’École Des Petis Preschool. The board wanted to continue to support the school with $1,000 while they wait to see what becomes of an event the public can attend. The board understood that these types of situations remain fluid.

“What we know now is that they need the dollars to continue to operate and yet they are operating differently so they can set up to do that. Therefore, there is still a need. But we do understand that they are still going to have their fundraiser maybe when things can resume to a new sense of normal. They might come up with a clever way to do fundraiser in a different way — they are just still not at that stage yet. That’s the thing we are only maybe a month into this story where lots of things have been halted or changed,” she said.

Some organizations that the division is involved with like the Catholic Trustees Association and the Catholic School Boards Association have delayed their AGMs until next year. Some organizations will hold an AGM in a different fashion or not have a conference the same way with some delaying until 2021.

“That’s a positive sign that the organization is saying that it can do it differently,” Trumier said.

The board annually meets with the City of Prince Albert Liaison Committee, but has delayed that meeting because there are no pressing matters. They were also contacted by Prince Albert Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave on April 28 regarding COVID-19 and educational planning and programing. He expressed concern and care for staff, students and families. Hargrave did commit to do all he could to support the Catholic Education community. The board felt that the annual meeting with MLAs can be held at a later date.

“The City is an organization that we work with well in our working relationship and if we need to call a meeting we will also know that they will meet with us and it is the same thing with our MLAs, now there is more pressing things that we need to address. We actually an avenue have to bring concerns that we have forward on any given time so for that reason we don’t need to attempt to hold that advocacy meeting at this time,” she said.

The school division usually plans their Opening Week 2020-2021 with professional development, opening mass, faith development day and staff meetings. The planning will be put in place to fufill requirement of starting next school year if permitted in schools. The board decided to set dates as usual until further notice.

The board also made some changes to Catholic Education Week, which is scheduled for May 17 to 24 with World Catholic Education Day on May 21. The board received an update that administration is working with school administration and staff to support special prayers and activities. There will also be special prayers and weekly lessons for that entire week. The Mass will still be celebrated and the division is in contact with Archbishop Albert Thevenot for more planning. They will have trustees join in special prayers and livestream the division will prayers of the Archbishop on May 21. That information will appear on the division’s website.

Music Monday has been a tradition at Carlton Comprehensive Collegiate since 2005. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, music teacher Brenda Bernath wanted to keep it going.

After watching recent musical specials she decided to take Music Monday to YouTube with Music Monday: Carlton Celebrates Music, Now…and Then on Monday, May 4.

The YouTube show premiered on Monday afternoon and was over two hours long, combining performances from the past and present.

“There are all kinds of music things happening online and you also watch the news and how they talk about people in other countries singing from their balconies together or people going on the streets and singing to people on their doorsteps. Music is bringing together people at a time everybody is struggling,” Bernath said.

“Between those concerts and Music Monday, I just thought Carlton should put together its own little show to celebrate music to bring people together at this time. Let’s try and do it on Music Monday and try and support that idea about the importance of music education. So it was just kind of a little idea I thought of not quite two weeks ago,” she explained.

Bernath reached out to students who have performed in the past as part of the choir or other school musical groups.

“And then I really felt bad about the kids that I teach that I couldn’t reach out to or be involved because their instruments are at school because it was all so sudden. We were out so quick and we didn’t know when we were coming back, we thought we would be coming back. They had no way of doing it, so I thought I could take the video from the Christmas concert,”

The songs performed at the last Christmas concert were ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ because this year is his 250th birthday.

Organizations around the world have been paying tribute to Beethoven this year.

Bernath also used an older video of one student who loves to entertain but did not have the ability to be part of Music Monday.

“It’s videos from then and it’s video from now so it is a combination of stuff,” she explained.

The project is organized to follow the theme of Now…and Then as closely as possible. Videos were grouped by performer with their “now” videos happening first followed by a “then” video if they submitted one.

The second half of the video focuses more on school performances and special events that occurred before the pandemic hit. She explained that the sound quality of some of the videos was not the best, but being able to share those special moments with others was more important.

“Some performers are sending me one video, some are sending me two. So I am putting them together by performer so when it is posted people will be able to go through and students can find themselves or the relatives can find the person they are looking for,” Bernath said.

There is also an emphasis on the importance of music.

Students were provided with a number of quotes, and they each chose two or three that spoke to them. One of those quotes was placed just before their performance in the video.

Bernath added that she is proud of our students and cannot thank them enough for their willingness to be part of this music celebration.

“The technical expertise, support, and advice of my two fellow colleagues, Dani Van Steelandt, Ian Hecht and my brother Cary Bernath were instrumental in making this music project happen,” Bernath said.

Saskatchewan now has a total of 366 cases of COVID-19.

Tuesday’s update by the province saw a jump of a single case, located in the Regina region.

Six people are receiving inpatient care, an increase of one; while two people are in intensive care, locations of hospitalizations were not included in government information.

Seventy of the 366 cases are considered active, which is a drop of two from Monday.

The reported deaths in the province remain at five after the confirmation of a death in the far north region Monday.

Three more people have recovered bringing the provincial total to 291.

Thirty-eight of the cases are health care workers, however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.

Of the 366 cases in the province, 138 are travelers, 150 are community contacts which includes mass gatherings, both of which is an increase of one over yesterday, 35 have no known exposures. The number of cases under investigation by local public health jumped to 43 on Tuesday, up a single case from the Monday update.

Prince Albert’s Region, the north, continues to report 69 cases. The far north again reports 46 cases. The remaining regions reported are 150 cases in the Saskatoon area, the one new reported case in the Regina area increased it to 75 cases, 15 cases were reported from the south and 11 from the central region the same as previous reports.

The age breakdown shows 30 cases in the 19 years of age and under range, while the rest are adults. The 20-39-year-old age range has 132 cases, 125 cases are in the 40-59-year-old age range (an increase of one from Monday) and 68 cases are in the 60-79-year-old age range, 11 are in the 80-year-old and over range which is the same as previous reports ; the gender breakdown remains 51 per cent of the cases being males and 49 per cent being females.

To date, 28,632 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. As of April 24 when other provincial and national numbers are available from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 22,684 people tested per million population and exceeds the national rate of 19,087 people tested per million population.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) released new data Tuesday showing that Saskatchewan is in a significantly better position to manage COVID-19 as a result of the interventions taken to date to slow the spread of the virus. The province needs to continue on their current path for the success to continue even in light of the upcoming re-opening of Saskatchewan.

“Despite all the good news our province has seen with regards to COVID-19 spread, these plans are critically important. We have to continue to plan for the worst while hoping for the best. As we have seen from other jurisdictions the situation can fluctuate very quickly,” SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said during Tuesday’s press conference.

Livingstone acknowledged the recent death and passed on the condolences of the SHA and also passed on thanks to the province’s health care workers.

The updated numbers shows Saskatchewan’s Basic Reproductive Number for the virus as 3.12. This means the average number of people a single COVID-19 positive person in Saskatchewan would infect, had no interventions been undertaken and everyone was susceptible.

Under revised modelling, SHA’s cumulative tota sits at 254,756 cases. That’s lower than the 335,000 originally modelled earlier this month.

Deaths under the worst-case scenario modelling fell from 6,815 to 3,050. Officials emphasized that modelling provides projections, not predictions.

With the introduction of public health measures in March and April 2020, the Effective Reproductive Number in Saskatchewan is 0.7 as of April 25. This is the average number of people one person with the virus is likely to infect at the current time, after the effects of the interventions have been factored in. This changes daily as behaviours and interventions change.

“The goal is to keep the effective reproductive number less than one and we know at that point this is the tipping point where we will start declining,” Dr. Jenny Basran, Senior Medical Information Officer explained.

“On April 25 our effective reproductive number was 0.7 this is a bit of an indicator that some of the cases that were coming up had been infected up to 13 days ago,” Basran said.

According to Basran, they will monitor the numbers as the Re-open Saskatchewan Plan begins to move forward. But all of the steps we are currently taking need to remain in place.

Basran explained that Saskatchewan is on par with the rest of Canada. The province is also working on modeling to determine numbers from different regions.

The SHA is using the new Saskatchewan-specific Basic Reproductive Number to adjust its planning scenarios, maintaining its commitment to plan for the worst, while aiming for the best. The Effective Reproductive Number will be used to guide decisions specifically about public health measures. This will help the province to make real-time adjustments to relax or tighten public restrictions, as needed, to help prevent a resurgence of COVID-19, while also balancing the need for a very gradual return to normalcy.

The SHA will release the Effective Reproductive Number weekly to help inform the public on the effect of current interventions or relaxed restrictions in Saskatchewan. Analysis going back to early March indicates that the value of this number has been under one since early April.

The SHA also released updated information on the adjustments it is making to its COVID-19 Readiness Plan as a result of this new data.

“Within Saskatchewan we have the highest per capita testing and also the least restrictive testing criteria where testing is available for anyone with symptoms of COVID-19,” Dr. Julie Kryzanowski, Senior Medical Health Officer said.

“We continue to work to scale up availability of testing in place around the province, new strategies for active case finding including testing persons who are identified as contacts through public health contacts and outbreak investigations, providing outreach to populations that are less likely to seek access to testing and sending consistent messages to health care providers who are doing the test.”

Testing sites across the province, including testing on First Nation’s communities, as well as mobilizing new technology which includes GenXpert that provides rapid results.

They are still developing contact tracing, trained staff on new technology that will help streamline after contact investigation that will improve reporting and monitoring. Will strengthen responses to community outbreaks and looking to mobilize surge capacity to respond in real time.

“We do need to work together to continue to stay healthy and strong and ensure that supports and care are available to those who need it,” she said.

They also highlighted the offensive and defensive portions of the SHA’s COVID-19 Health System Readiness Plan. The offensive portion sees maximizing testing capacity, accessibility and speed, including ongoing expansion of rapid testing capability across the province and outreach to populations less likely to seek testing; surging contact tracing to stay ahead of demand, including a plan to meet any scenario up to 618 news cases per day in Saskatchewan, helping prevent spread by restricting staff to work in a single facility; contingency planning to use hotels to cohort COVID-19 positive patients who require intermediate care and continuing to expand virtual care options to provide continuity of service while maintaining physical distancing, wherever possible.

The SHA’s defensive strategy portion of the plan focuses on the readiness of acute care services to meet any potential surge in demand from COVID-19. The defensive adjustments highlighted include a new planning scenario assumptions now estimate needing 1,000 fewer hospital beds, 400 fewer ICU beds and 400 fewer ventilators than previously announced on April 8 and continued preparation for field hospitals in Saskatoon and Regina to enable the SHA to scale up if needed.

The two field hospitals are based on two stages of activation. According to Derek Miller, the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Lead stage one has a predefined number of 309 beds to prepare for activation, purchase all of the equipment and then trigger the beds. Beds would become available in a predetermined period of time. Stage two is a contingency capacity to expand services as needed. He explained that in Saskatoon it would go from one ice sheet to two at Merlis Belsher Place and occupying a second part of Evraz Place in Regina. This would make 650 beds potentially available in the two field hospitals.

“The updated modeling information provides good insight into the Saskatchewan-specific situation as well as informing our scenarios that are used for planning. Our offensive strategy continues to support the sustainment of low rates of transmission. But we want to emphasize that the public has the biggest impact on our offensive strategy and success and certainly underpins the success that we have seen to date. Our defensive strategy continues to adapt on the new modeling information and we will be adjusting that and we will ensure that we have our defense ready should we need it in the future,” Miller said.

The SHA and Ministry of Health are also developing a plan to resume, in a staged approach, community services, elective surgeries and diagnostics that were impacted by earlier service slowdowns. This plan will be released in the near future.

The elements of this plan will be activated in phases, with each phase triggered by surveillance data on transmission of the virus in the community.

Identification of which services will resume will consider factors such as highest priority patient needs, risk of transmission of the virus, impact on COVID-19 surge capacity, impact on inventory of personal protective equipment and other factors. Timeline on medical returning will be determined using the data available.

“Going forward there will be ups and downs in our fight against COVID-19,” Saskatchewan Health Authority Chief Medical Officer Dr. Susan Shaw said in the province’s release.

“That is why it is so critical that we be guided by the data and be willing to adapt as we learn more about COVID-19 and how the virus is behaving in the Saskatchewan context. While we support the province’s plan for gradually re-opening the province, it is a critical time to remind Saskatchewan residents that this will be a phased process where we still need our citizens to be vigilant and practice the same precautions that have proven effective to date.”

In the press conference all of the speakers noted that we are in such good shape because we have been practicing proper actions such as frequent hand washing and physical distancing.

-With files from Jordan Sticker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Estevan Mercury.