The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that K-12 schools in the province will be closed as of Friday, March 20th.
The decision comes a day after the province’s Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab said there was no need to close schools down, as there is no evidence of community transmission in Saskatchewan.
Students will be given a final grade based on their current grade and will move on to the next grade level next year. Students who are eligible to graduate will do so.
While schools will close, privately run day-care facilities will not be closing at this time, but Premier Scott Moe says there are ongoing discussions as to what to do going forward.
Moe added that there are people out there who are trying to adapt to what is happening on a daily basis and that his government is doing its best to try and let Saskatchewan people know what is happening, but the picture changes day-by-day and hour-by-hour.
“There are changes to our life as we know it, and we are trying to take every opportunity to communicate those changes as they come forward to the people of the province, and that is what we are doing here today,” said Moe. “This is a significant change in the way that we are changing how education is delivered here over the course of the next number of months.”
Moe and Dr. Shahab said that part of the reason behind the measures was the fact that there is evidence of community transmission in Alberta, and this is just another way for the province to be pro-active and curb the spread.
Dr. Shahab added despite all these measures, there is no need for people to panic.
“We continue to have very few cases, we have a 7th case now, who again traveled to the U.S., to Arizona. These are significant steps that we are taking ahead of any significant community transmission, which has happened now in several Canadian provinces,” said Shahab. “I would like us to view this as a calming thing that we do, in terms of spending more time with family.”
The Premier also echoed sentiments of Prime Minister Trudeau, urging all residents to come home from abroad.
“If you are a Saskatchewan resident traveling abroad, it’s time for you to come home now, and then self-isolate for two weeks” said Moe, “The vast majority of cases in Canada right now can still be traced back to foreign travel,” said Moe. “So coming home is the right thing to do.”
The government is also urging people to avoid all non-essential international travel until further notice.
People who think they may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to use the self-monitoring tool available online at www.saskatchewan.ca/coronavirus and if there still are concerns, people are asked to call Healthline 811.
