The Onion Lake Cree Nation has announced they will be again extending their COVID-19 related lockdown, this time into the new year.
In information put out Thursday, the new lockdown will run until January 4th, 2021. While the date has been moved once again, many of the rules will remain the same heading into January.
Restrictions will still see people limited to only five people at gatherings, including for worship gatherings like weddings and funerals. Residents are also being recommended to continue to physically distance and not loiter when running errands such as getting gas or groceries. Frequent handwashing, physical distancing, keeping cohort bubbles small, not going anywhere if sick and not returning to work until they are 48 hours symptom-free of any illness are also strongly encouraged.
The OLCN is again reminding people that anyone who is showing signs of illness and has recently travelled to hot spots like Prince Albert, Edmonton or Saskatoon, for example, should contact Onion Lake Health Clinic for assessment by the pandemic team. These people should go home first, and then call them for the next steps. Any resident who believes they have been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case can contact the clinic for assessment and testing information as well.
Checkpoints will also stay up, and the OLCN says security gates will also be up until March 2021. OLCN adds that their security and RCMP are authorized to ensure the Saskatchewan public health order is being followed in Onion Lake.
This extension is the second for this lockdown, which began on November 7th. As of December 3rd, there are 14 active, confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Onion Lake Cree Nation.