COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan continue to rise with 325 new cases announced Monday.

The province’s case rate per 100,000 people is nearly double that of Ontario and Quebec’s.

Newly appointed Health Minister Paul Merriman says he is confident that new measures introduced Friday will work in lowering numbers, but only if everyone complies.

“We are asking everybody to comply by the new guidelines that have been set out recently in the past couple of weeks, but also the guidelines that have been existing,” said Merriman. “I think there’s been a little bit of slippage in the last few weeks, and I hope that everybody would start adhering to the guidelines, because that’s going to be the number one determinant of driving the numbers down.”

Premier Scott Moe says while he’s confident in the new measures, it won’t lower case counts right away.

“We are going to have a few weeks of what I believe will be, sustained higher numbers, as we work our way through these new provisions that have been put in place,” said Moe. “These provisions that are, in my view, very balanced but very measured, and will be effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19, but most certainly do allow us to have some degree of activity, and some degree of movement throughout our communities.”

When asked what restrictions would be in place over Christmas, both Moe and Merriman said it depends on what case numbers look like a few weeks from now. Merriman added the government is looking at how measures impact the health system and its workers, as well as the mental health of residents.

“It’s going to be a different Christmas season than what we had last year, obviously that’s going to happen,” said Merriman. “What it’s going to look like is going to be determined by what the people are doing to be able to adhere to the public health guidelines to drive the numbers down.”