It appears COVID-19 mandates set in place by the Saskatchewan government will be repealed shortly.

No official announcement or date has been set in stone just yet. But Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe took to social media Wednesday night signalling very shortly his government will be shifting away from restrictions.

"I think it is time, that's what I am hearing and that's what our MLAs are hearing from most of their constituents," he said. "That's not because COVID is ending, it most certainly hasn't, it's because people understand it better. They understand what they need to do, they understand the risk and they're prepared to live with that risk more than they're prepared to live with the government intrusion into their lives."

The province's COVID-19 active case count and daily new cases have been posting record highs consistently since the start of the New Year, however, Moe noted that most of these cases are due to the Omicron variant that's less severe than previous ones.

The Rosthern-Shellbrook MLA also pointed to the growing availability of some different tools to combat the virus' severity and spread, including the vaccine, antiviral treatments, and tests - all of which weren't options when the pandemic began.

"Eradicating COVID is not realistic and COVID zero is not achievable but normalizing COVID or living with COVID is," he said. "I'm concerned that COVID being the constant topic of conversation and dictating our daily lives will have a negative long-term impact on each of us in this province."

While Moe didn't allude to the mask mandate in his video, he did double-down on the province removing the vaccine passports needed to gain access into certain buildings and establishments.

"Travel, go to work, have dinner with friends, go to the movies, go to your kids games most importantly," he said. "You should do all of these things without constantly assessing if your every activity is absolutely necessary. What's necessary is your freedom, what's necessary is getting your life back to normal and it's time."

Currently, the province's public health orders that include an indoor mask mandate and proof of vaccination to enter some establishments will expire at the end of February.

Related Stories