Saskatoon’s City Council would like extra public health measures for gathering sizes in light of the fourth wave of the pandemic. At a special meeting, it was recommended the Mayor write a letter to the provincial government requesting the Chief Medical Health Officer issue a Public Health Order for Saskatoon that limits capacity to 150 at public indoor and outdoor gatherings, for any venues that don’t already have vaccine mandates and negative COVID-19 tests required, and a limit of 15 at indoor private gatherings, including household gatherings.
Dr. Mark Fenton, one of Saskatoon’s pandemic Chiefs of Staff, told City Council that hospitalizations are now at 133 per cent of normal baseline capacity. That means resources are stretched. Critical Care Nursing is a specialized skillset which is in short supply, which will be a chokepoint for the health system. The same goes for respiratory therapists who are key to managing ventilators and other breathing interventions. Saskatoon Medical Health Officer, Dr. Jasmine Hasselback says her presentation to Council five or six weeks ago described the transmission rates as a tsunami hitting the city, and she says now the reality is we “couldn’t hold back the water.”
The Mayor’s letter on behalf of City Council to the Premier of Saskatchewan, the Minister of Health, and any relevant ministers requesting that the Chief Medical Health Officer for Saskatchewan to issue a Public Health Order for Saskatoon that imposes the following:
A limit of 150 person maximum capacity at an event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities, or 1/3 of the current capacity, whichever is less, to ensure that physical distancing can be maintained.
A limit of 15 people at private gatherings, including household gatherings.
A limit of 150 people at public indoor gatherings and private indoor gatherings or 1/3 of the current capacity, whichever is less, to ensure that physical distancing can be maintained.
A limit of 150 people at public outdoor gatherings with physical distancing in place.
If an event or facility has in place the requirement for a proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to the event, that the event be exempted from these gathering restrictions.
The current province-wide masking mandate remain in place
It was also moved that a copy of the report be shared with SUMA and the City Mayor’s Caucus, which was passed, and there was a motion to cancel the free public swim event on Thursday that wasn’t passed.
