T H E B AT T L E F O R D S
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news-optimist Serving the Battlefords since 1908
www.newsoptimist.ca
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Thursday, May 6, 2021
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Published every Thursday
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Province lays out reopening roadmap
Friend of the Farmer
Plan depends on vaccination benchmarks By John Cairns Staff Reporter
A frequent contributor to the News-Optimist tells us this Swainson hawk has returned to our area. These hawks migrate from Mexico and Texas all the way to Alaska and everywhere in between. These hawks have strong wings and are designed to be great hunters with sharp talons and beaks that can rip small mammals and other birds apart. The Swainson hawk also eats grasshoppers, crickets and gophers, so it is a friend of the farmer and rancher. They will nest in trees or in grass with two to four eggs. When you see several hawks soaring overhead in search of prey, the group is called a “kettle” of hawks. Photo by Jim McLane
Pharmacy vaccination pilot now includes North Battleford Staff
Tuesday’s COVID-19 report from the provincial government included the announcement that additional pharmacies have been added to the pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination pilot program, incljuding in North Battleford. They
will now be able to take appointments for vaccination, based on age groups and populations who are eligible on the day the appointment is booked. The list of pharmacies participating in the pilot is available at www. saskatchewan.ca/covid19pharmacies.
North Battleford pharmacies participating in the vaccination pilot are: Battlefords Prescription Centre, 1121B - 103rd St; Discovery Co-operative Ltd, 9800 Territorial Drive; Shoppers Drug Mart No. 403, 11412 Railway Ave E; and Pharmasave No. 467, 1271 100 St.
Premier Scott Moe laid out the details of the coming “road back to normal” Tuesday at the province’s COVID-19 news conference. Moe provided a reopening road map on how they plan to lift the current public health orders in place in the province. It will be a three-step plan, dependent on several vaccination benchmarks being set. The first step is when vaccine eligibility is open to all adults provincewide and three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 40 and above have received their first dose. Step two takes place three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 30 have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and at least three weeks after step one. Step three occurs three weeks after 70 per cent of people age 18 and above have received their first dose. As well, a minimum three weeks must have occurred moving from step two to three. Moe said that in step one, changes to public
health orders will include: Restaurants and bars can have maximum of six at a table, with physical distancing in place; Places of worship can have 30 per cent of capacity or 150 people, whichever is less, with physical distancing between households; Intense group fitness classes can resume, with three metres between participants; Household bubbles will be expanded to 10 people at private indoor and outdoor gatherings, including household gatherings; Public indoor gatherings up to 30 people; Up to 150 people at public outdoor gatherings; and Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place. in step two, more public health measures are planned to be eased including as follows: Increase to 15 people at private indoor gatherings including household gatherings; 150 people maximum at public indoor gatherings and private and public outdoor gatherings; 150-person maximum
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at event facilities including casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities; No capacity thresholds on retail and personal care services, but they must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing; No table size limits at restaurants and bars but must maintain two metres of physical distancing or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed; All remaining restrictions on youth and adult sports will be lifted; Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place. In step three, most remaining restrictions will be lifted. Guidance on gathering sizes and indoor masking policy will be developed in the coming weeks based on progress of the first two steps. Public health orders on gathering sizes and indoor masking will remain in place until that guidance is finalized. Based on current rates of vaccination Moe said the province should enter Continued on Page 5
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