Canada’s Saskatchewan province announced Tues-day the lifting of all Covid restrictions including wearing of masks and proof of vaccination for in-door dining — as truckers continued occupying Ot-tawa with similar demands.
Alberta was expected to soon follow suit — de-spite some pushback from doctors and nurses — while Quebec announced it would move up the loosening of restrictions.
Most of the Saskatchewan measures introduced in September, when the Delta variant of COVID-19 was spreading across Canada, will end at midnight on Sunday. Indoor masking requirements and quarantines for anyone who tests positive, however, will remain in place until the end of the month.
“This policy has run its course,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference. The premier noted that more than 80 percent of Sas-katchewan residents had received two Covid vac-cine jabs, and about half got a booster — similar to data for the country as a whole — and that it was now time to treat Covid as endemic.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has proposed a phased removal of pandemic restrictions in his prov-ince. He is to provide details this week. Meanwhile Quebec Premier Francois Legault signaled on Tuesday the lifting of Covid measures in his jurisdiction by mid-March.—AFP
