The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that residents who test positive for the novel coronavirus will only have to self-isolate for five days beginning Friday, no matter their vaccination status.

Previously, the self-isolation period for unvaccinated residents was 10 days. Saskatchewan’s health minister, Paul Merriman said that case numbers are higher due to the Omicron variant, although severe outcomes aren’t as common compared to previous waves during the pandemic.

The government said in a news release that those who test positive for COVID-19 on a PCR or antigen will be required to isolate for five days following the date of test or 24 hours after fever has resolved without the aid of fever-reducing medications.

Unvaccinated individuals who are currently isolating for 10 days, will be able to shorten their isolation period as of noon tomorrow (fri). When asked whether or not the province will phase out the proof of vaccination for several establishments as hinted by the premier Wednesday, Health Minister Paul Merriman says that will be something to consider at the end of February.

“We’re continuing looking, it’s in place right now until February and we will have discussions with Dr. Shahab to see where that is. Right now, it’s in place until the end of February and we’re going to continue that with masking, verification and negative test, those three pieces.”

Parents and caregivers are no longer required to notify schools about positive test results for the purposes of close contact notification.

Those who test positive are required to self-isolate and will be absent from school activities for the duration of their self-isolation period.