What Should PEOPLE Do About "Re-Open Saskatchewan"?
This morning, the province of Saskatchewan announced its five-phase plan to “re-open” Saskatchewan, after COVID-19 restrictions came into place in March. The announcement by Premier Scott Moe and the bulk of the media conference that followed with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab was focused on re-opening Saskatchewan businesses, but little direction was given to individuals.
Now, I am a business owner (was the blog post on my business website enough of a clue?) who serves other businesses. Of course I am concerned about how my fellow entrepreneurs—and let’s be honest, my clients—are going to move forward into a new world and a new economy.
But I am a person first. I want to know when it’s safe for me to get together with my friends and family, and how we can protect each other when that happens. So here I am, putting my old journalism hat back on, and writing the article I haven’t yet seen: about how the people of Saskatchewan need to respond as businesses begin to re-open while COVID-19 continues to circulate.
Before we get to the meat of it, an important disclaimer:
This is not medical advice. I am not a medical professional. I’m not even an official public health communicator. I’m just a former journalist and current freelance communicator who was concerned that your everyday Saskatchewan citizen wasn’t getting the information they needed to keep us all safe as businesses re-open.
With that said, this is what I gathered from today’s announcement.
Remain cautious
“But I think we need to be very conscious, as we reengage in some of the activities that are going to be permissible over the next few weeks, to maintain that discipline in terms of preventing, as much as possible, the transmission.”
Dr. Saqib Shahab
Shahab repeatedly pointed out that we are all still at risk of contracting and passing COVID-19, so we need to be cautious and continue to take safety precautions. Although some businesses are being given the green light to open, if they wish, that doesn’t mean individuals are free to do whatever we like.
Maintain all precautions, including physical distancing
This point has been thoroughly lost in the coverage and response I’ve seen so far. All the precautions that we’ve been taking are supposed to continue, especially the big ones:
Stay home if you feel unwell.
Wash your hands properly and often.
Practice “respiratory hygiene.” (AKA: Don’t cough or sneeze just anywhere, you animal; use your elbow or a tissue…and then wash your hands again!)
Stay at least two metres away from others.
The Province has loads of detailed information (note from 2023: well, they used to, anyway) that goes beyond these points (clean and disinfect often, etc.) if you’re looking for specifics written by someone more qualified in public health than I am.
Physical distancing is one of the most effective tools we have right now against transmission. And it needs to continue. The closer we get to one another, the easier it is for us to accidentally pass the virus along. Hugs, kisses, and handshakes remain off the table for a while.
“It’s very important that we remain more and more disciplined,” said Shahab. “…We have to maintain that discipline. It’s the only way we will keep the curve flat.”
Keep track of where you’ve gone and who you’ve been in contact with
Contact tracing is an important part of tracking the spread of the virus. That means if someone tests positive, public health officials want to know where that person has been and who they may have been in contact with. This allows us to not only figure out where they may have picked up the virus, but also who they may have passed it on to.
“All of us should be able to name all the people we’ve been in close contact with over the last two weeks as the new normal,” said Shahab.
Marking down the businesses you’ve visited and the people you’ve seen each day—in your calendar, your journal, your phone—helps you keep track of this, should you need it. Most of our brains aren’t exactly steel traps in stressful times such as this, so would probably be difficult to remember what we were doing two weeks ago. Keeping accurate notes can protect others, plus it’s a good way to use the 2020 planners and calendars we all bought and are currently underutilizing, right?
Seriously, physical distancing
Shahab called physical distancing one of the “pillars” of staying safe right now.
“We need to always say ‘Did I come closer than two meters to anyone outside my household when I could not have?’”
Dr. Saqib Shahab
Gatherings need to remain small, infrequent, and with limited people
Shahab also mentioned “virtual households” during the conference, when the question of families getting together was finally broached, 36 minutes in. Basically, the idea is that you can get together with other people, but we need to keep it safe by:
considering your risk factors (more on this in a moment);
keeping it under 10 people;
maintaining physical distancing;
not sharing food or a meal (we’ll come back to this one, too); and
limiting the number of people/households you interact with.
He stressed that we need to keep our interactions limited.
“…Try to meet the same people or the same household for the next little while. Don't randomly meet three new people every day. Because I think that's where the risk goes up.”
Dr. Saquib Shahab
At the risk of editorializing…again (the joys of not being a “proper” journalist anymore), I think this one is going to be tough for a lot of people to manage. For my family, three households covers only the grandparents…who will undoubtedly include all their other grandchildren, expanding my family’s risk beyond those three households immediately. Which brings me to the next point.
Consider risk factors
We already know that people over the age of 60 and anyone with underlying health conditions are at higher risk of getting seriously ill if they contract COVID-19. We also know that even if we don’t get terribly sick ourselves, we can pass it on to someone who could.
So we need to examine our risk factors and those of anyone we would be in contact with. To go back to my personal grandparent example, that eliminates all of them: the youngest is just weeks shy of his 60th birthday, and all of them have underlying health conditions.
And here’s the thing about risk: You can’t eliminate it; you can only mitigate it. Life is inherently risky, but by paying attention to what the risks are, we can take steps to avoid them. Thus, we need to continue following all the other safety protocols to reduce risk of transmission until there is a vaccine.
Don’t share food
Shahab mentioned food gatherings a couple times during the media conference, both in relation to staff gathering in break rooms, and the “virtual household.” He specifically said to avoid sharing food in both cases.
Though no evidence yet suggests we can catch COVID-19 through food, it’s tough to share a meal without touching the same surfaces (serving utensils, countertops, etc.) or getting within two meters of one another. So we’ve once again returned to maintaining the basic safety protocols (including food safety) we’ve been following to stay safe.
Physical. Distancing.
Yes, I am going to say it again. Partly because I think this message has not gotten through to people yet, and because it came up so frequently during the media conference. For emphasis, here’s what Premier Moe said at the tail end of the conference:
“…Continue to practice—and I can’t stress this enough—the appropriate physical distancing measures and the (other) measures in place to ensure that (people) are doing everything they can, as they have been, to flatten the curve and reduce the spread.”
Avoid travelling, especially to other provinces and countries
Though most of us likely haven’t been thinking about travelling since mid-March, they re-emphasized that we need to avoid travelling right now. Not only are most country’s borders closed, they cautioned against travelling to other Canadian provinces, and even to other areas within Saskatchewan.
Travel is risky by itself (motor vehicle collisions and whatnot), and again risks wider spread of COVID-19—in both directions. Stay home. Stay safe.
Stay informed
The full re-opening plan from the Province includes guidance for those of us patronizing re-opened businesses such as chiropractors and massage therapists. Just like we had to learn to go in one direction down grocery aisles, we now need to learn to wash our hands when we arrive for our haircut. Knowing these safety measures ahead of time will save stress for individuals and business owners alike.
As part of the phased-in approach, both Moe and Shahab noted that part of the plan is tracking numbers and “aggressive” testing, to ensure the changes don’t result in increased cases. That’s part of why the last three phases of the plan don’t even have dates attached to them yet. We don’t actually know when places like gyms will open, so keep an ear to the ground.
Just as we saw rules tighten when the pandemic started, we should expect them to tighten if these new measures lead to an uptick in cases. Shahab noted that our response to the virus will be “an issue until—at least—we have a vaccine” so we should expect to keep our eyes and ears open to new advice as it becomes available and we continue to learn about COVID-19.
Do your part
Shahab emphasized that each of us needs to take some responsibility to ensure everyone remains safe.
“All of us have a role as individuals, as citizens, as people who own businesses or work in them,” said Shahab. “I would caution that, again, in other parts of the world…one case can result in thousands of cases in a few weeks.”
