Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan

This is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan, listing key policies and developments from the first confirmed infection from SARS-CoV-2 in the province. Saskatchewan reported its first positive COVID-19 tests on March 12, 2020, and its first deaths on March 30.[1][2]

Saskatchewan has been one of Canada's hardest hit provinces during the pandemic, often leading the country in per capita case rates and hospitalizations. The province's health care system has been severely strained by the pandemic. In late 2021, Saskatchewan transferred more than two dozen intensive care unit (ICU) patients to Ontario for treatment to help relieve its overburdened system.[3] After declaring a state of emergency and instituting wide-reaching public health measures in March 2020, the Saskatchewan Party government, led by Premier Scott Moe, prioritized keeping businesses and schools open, generally hesitating to institute mandates, particularly once vaccines became widely available in the middle of 2021. The province was twice the first in the country to lift all pandemic-related public health orders, first in July 2021, and again in February 2022, the latter amidst a convoy protest occupying Ottawa partly organized by a truck driver from the province.[4][5][6] As of July, 2023, 2,000 people in Saskatchewan have died from COVID-19.[7]

  1. ^ Giles, David (March 12, 2020). "Saskatchewan confirms first presumptive case of novel coronavirus". Global News. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Quenneville, Guy; Hunter, Adam (March 30, 2020). "COVID-19 in Sask: Province marks 'sad milestone' of first 2 deaths". CBC News. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  3. ^ Quon, Alexander (December 17, 2021). "Bill for airlifting Sask. COVID-19 ICU patients to Ontario and back tops $1.3M". CBC News. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  4. ^ Solomon, Michaela (July 11, 2021). "Sask. lifts all COVID-19 restrictions. Here's what you need to know". CTV News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  5. ^ Ellis, Brendan; Davis, Stefanie; Postey, Drew (February 8, 2022). "Sask. to remove proof of vaccination policy Monday, masking rules expiring at the end of the month". CTV News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  6. ^ Frizzell, Sara; Yogaretnam, Shaamini (February 17, 2022). "Convoy protest organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, Pat King arrested in Ottawa". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  7. ^ Frew, Nicholas (July 25, 2023). "Sask. reaches grim milestone of 2,000 total COVID-19 deaths". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.