Saskatoon / 650 CKOM
Apr 6, 2021 2:25 PM
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer answers questions on the 2021-22 provincial budget on April 6, 2021. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
COVID-19 has left Saskatchewan in a bigger hole than originally expected.
Before delivering the 2021-22 budget at the Saskatchewan legislature on Tuesday, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said it was difficult to overstate the impact of the pandemic.
“It was not only a worldwide health crisis; the COVID-19 pandemic is also the largest shock to the Saskatchewan, Canadian, and world economies of any event since the Second World War,” Harpauer told reporters.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge that requires a significant response.”
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The provincial government will spend $1.5 billion on direct COVID-19 supports in the coming fiscal year, according to budget estimates released Tuesday.
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Vickers reported that school divisions are waiting for quote a third-party provider to offer those. According to her report, right now the Miinistry of Health is working with Sask Builds and Procurement on developing a request for pre-qualifications tender for third party providers to deliver testing. There was also an update on where things stood in the division with respect to level 3 of the Saskatchewan Safe Schools Plan. Vickers noted only one school in the division was at level 3 at the moment, that being North Battleford Comprehensive High School, meaning that “sometimes (students are) at school and sometimes they’re at home.”
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is alerting the public about an increased COVID-19 exposure risk in the St. Louis area.
According to a media release, because of some cases related to events in St. Louis, which resulted in the spread to same household members, there is an increased risk of COVID-19. The increased risk of exposure is for those who may have attended any outdoor recreational events, poker rallies and poker card parties outside of their home since Christmas.
The SHA says those who were at any of the listed events should immediately self isolate and call HealthLine 811. They also instruct those who were told by someone from the events they tested positive for COVID-19 and were in contact with them for more than 15 minutes to self isolate immediately. They recommend those who had any interaction with the events but are not experiencing symptoms to consider getting tested.