Sask. premier hints more people may be allowed to gather around the holidays

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says there is a chance you'll be able to gather with more people during the holidays.

Restrictions put in place last week and in effect until Dec. 17 limit the number of people allowed in a household to five.

But Moe said if the new restrictions start to bring down the number of COVID-19 cases in the province, they might loosen the restrictions over the holidays.

"Maybe at some point between now and Christmas have a conversation around maybe some of those restrictions relaxing slightly to allow us to come together in a little larger numbers as we enter the holiday season," Moe said, adding they will rely on the advice of health officials to make that decision as Christmas nears.

Currently Saskatchewanhas the third-highest rate of cases per capita in Canada,behind onlyManitoba and Alberta.

On Monday Saskatchewan reported 325 new cases, and the rateofactive casesofCOVID-19was 307per 100,000 populationas of Sunday.

Moe said they will have three choices as Dec. 17 nears, and it will depend on which one Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab recommends.

"He will be recommending that we keep the status quo. He'll be recommending that we actually add to those [restrictions]," Moe said.

"Or he'll be recommending that potentially, for example, around the numbers that we have in household gatherings are five right now. Maybe able to creep up just a little bit so that we could have a few people in our home for Christmas and for the holiday season for a couple of days."

Opposition Leader Ryan Meili says there is nothing in the current projectionsto suggest the number of COVID-19 casesare coming down by Christmas.

"The virus doesn't care whether it's a holiday or not," Meili said. "The only thing that matters is whether those numbers have come down. We aren't seeing that now. We'll see what happens in the weeks ahead."

"But really, if the premier had been serious at all, making sure people could enjoy their holidays, we shouldn't be toying with the idea of just having a break in people taking public health measures."

Meili said Moe missed his opportunity to take the measures to prevent the spread.

"[Moe] should have taken action right away to get things under control instead of where we are today, where when we look at the model, there's nothing suggesting that the numbers are coming down by Christmas. He's feeding people a line," Meili said.

Moe said provinces like Quebec are putting forward policies of allowing more people to gather around Christmas.

"It's too early for us to say which of those three options would occur. I think, in fairness, it's too early for Dr. Shahab to say as well. We need a little bit of time.

"We've had three or four days since these restrictions have come. These additional restrictions and measures have come into place. And we need to have a few days to see if they are actually going to make any impact on the numbers that we have."

Minister of Health Paul Merriman said they are looking at all options.

He said they must consider the health care system and health workers.

"On top of that, what is going to be good for everybody's mental health and the economy? These all have to be balanced, not necessarily on a two-week basis, but on a daily basis. So we'll be making that determination in the near future of what it's going to look like over the Christmas season."

Merriman said the five people per household will remain until they see the number of cases in a couple of weeks.

"But I'm hopeful that they will be either stabilizing or going down. And if they are, that will make a decision at that point."