Forgive me for not being giddy about the full lifting of COVID-19 restrictions this time in Saskatchewan.
Eight months ago, when the government said that all COVID-19 measures would be finished, I was popping a champagne cork. No more mask mandates. No more calls for social distancing. No more limits on the number of people allowed for gatherings, whether they were private or public, indoors or outdoors.
It helped that the first day of life after restrictions was going to be my Grandma Leguee’s birthday celebration in Weyburn, and we were going to have a big family get-together.
Yes, I had concerns that the government was moving too quickly, and that the threshold for lifting all public health measures should have been tied to the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine instead of the first. That lingering skepticism came to fruition when a few weeks later, we had our worst COVID surge since the start of the pandemic.
And while the government didn’t impose restrictions to the degree that it did previously, we were still forced to don our masks again, and we had to start showing a proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to access a lot of businesses and services.
Now Saskatchewan is largely restriction-free again. There are some lingering measures in place, but the government has shifted its pandemic phrase from “Stick it to COVID” to “Living with COVID.” Other provinces have also been lifting restrictions, as many jurisdictions are hoping that the future mutations of COVID won’t be as serious, and if things take a turn for the worst, that the medical community can quickly come up with a vaccine for a virus that we understand far better than we did two years ago.
I’m cautiously optimistic about life after restrictions this time around. I’d likely be more excited about it if the government was giving us more information, particularly when it comes to the number of people in hospital due to COVID, and the number of people of people who contracted it while in hospital.
While the government has been releasing weekly COVID updates since July, the daily dashboard updates still served a purpose. And they had value for those who want to make decisions based on evidence.
I also want to know about things like test positivity rates and the percentage of people diagnosed with COVID who wind up in hospital, but those numbers are hard to gauge now that the government has limited the number of people who can get a PCR test.
But you likely won’t see me wearing a mask. Not unless I have to. If I have to put a mask on to access a business, then I will.
And while this is certainly near the bottom of issues created by the pandemic, I certainly look forward to taking photos of people without masks again. We’ve had widespread, mandatory indoor masking in public for 12 of the past 15 months.
For those who still wear a mask, well, that’s their choice, and they deserve better than taunts from some out there. It reflects poorly on anyone who insists on making fun of those who wear a mask.
It would be foolish to have a cathartic mask-burning ceremony at this point. Restrictions could be brought in at some point. Some places will still require them. And you’ll likely still need one if you want to travel, or if you’re aboard an airplane.
I’ve also enjoyed seeing large crowds for Estevan Bruins’ home games again. That crowd for the Feb. 19 game against the Weyburn Red Wings was great. It was likely the largest crowd at Affinity Place for a hockey game in nearly three years. Hopefully, we’ll get to see even more people at games during an extended playoff run.
Hopefully other venues and organizations in town that are benefitting from proof of vaccine.
It is important that we are prepared to be at the point in which COVID is endemic rather than pandemic. If you think we should wait for COVID to be fully eradicated before fully reopening, well, dream on. Medical history shows just how difficult it is to fully eradicate a disease.
I just hope we’re not moving too fast. After all, we saw late in the summer and early in the fall what happens when you do.
