It was an announcement that people had been waiting to hear: the provincial government was increasing the number of people allowed for private indoor gatherings from five to 10.聽
The restriction had been one of the most disliked that we鈥檝e seen since the pandemic hit Saskatchewan more than a year ago. It was particularly contentious at Christmas time, when families used to big gatherings had to keep their numbers low.
If you had more than five people in your immediate family (say, two parents and four children) you could still have supper together, but nobody else in the home.
And if you have a family of four, you could have one other person in your home.聽
But a family of five wasn鈥檛 supposed to have an extra person in their home.
We鈥檙e not sure how vigilant this was followed, and if someone would actually rat their neighbour out if a family of five brought two more people into their home. 聽
But if there were 20 people gathered in a home, it was a big Public Health fine waiting to happen, even on Christmas.
So we鈥檙e now up to 10 people for a private gathering. Sure the government talks about a limited number of bubbles, but how would you enforce that?聽
You might get a few people who will be opposed to this, who think that we鈥檙e moving too soon to ease this particular restriction. You鈥檒l also have some who think that we should be able to have more than 10. But a lot would likely say 10 is a reasonable number at this time. 聽
And as long as we鈥檙e smart, the increase to 10 people shouldn鈥檛 result in a surge in case numbers.聽
Lost in the shuffle of last week鈥檚 announcement was that churches could have up to 150 people present or 30 per cent capacity, whichever is lower, effective March 19. It鈥檚 a return to the number of people allowed in churches last summer, before Saskatchewan experienced a spike in the number of cases.聽
The increase in numbers for churches seems like on experiment. The province clamped down on a lot of activities and businesses last fall, including restaurants, retail outlets, movie theatres, gyms, casinos and bingo halls. It also imposed limitations on arenas and churches.聽
If you increase the number of people allowed in retail or restaurants or movie theatres, or if you reopen casinos, then everyone else will wonder 鈥淲hy these businesses, but not us?鈥� But if you allow for more people in churches, well, at least it鈥檚 a non-profit that has fewer restrictions.聽
Saskatchewan churches have been fairly respectful of these restrictions. Many didn鈥檛 open up for live services right away last spring once people were allowed to gather together and worship again.聽
There was the one super spreader in Prince Albert last fall, but Saskatchewan hasn鈥檛 had the issues with a few outlaw churches like in Manitoba.
And if you don鈥檛 have a surge in cases from churches reopening, then hopefully larger numbers will be allowed in other areas.聽
At the same time, it is ironic that a church that seats 500 can have 150 people, while Affinity Place, which seats close to 2,700, is limited to 30.
It鈥檚 also encouraging that the Estevan Comprehensive School and the Weyburn Comprehensive School can now have all students in classes every day once again, as opposed to have half of their students learning from home each day. With our numbers as low as they are in the southeast, it was frustrating that they couldn鈥檛 all be in school each day.聽
This gradual loosening of restrictions is encouraging. For those of us in the province鈥檚 South East Zone 4, we鈥檝e often had a single-digit case count. While the rest of the province was being hit hard in late 2020 and early 2021, our numbers were fairly steady, even though we have more people than most rural sub-zones.聽
If we play it smart, then hopefully we can keep our caseloads stable, and start to see more people allowed in restaurants and retail.
If we think we know better than the medical experts, then we鈥檒l lose some of the gains we鈥檝e just made.聽
