The curfew was announced by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the province, where cases have started to rise again. This measure is to last for 28 days and then will be reviewed by Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab.
Some business owners are against the new measures saying it will cause losses, but others welcome the decision and are glad that a total closure of restaurants like before was not implemented. The government has provided wage subsidies from the province and a loan from the federal government for businesses affected by the pandemic.
You have to go with the recommendations from the health authority on this one,” said Shellbrook Ron Weir, owner of Amanda’s Pizza, as per CTV News.
“If they feel it’s an important step then I think we need to follow that.”
Shellbrook Ron Weir, owner of Amanda’s Pizza
Alcohol use has been found to undermine protective health measures against COVID-19 such as physical distancing and mask use. Further, alcohol is known to weaken the immune system and to be a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which in turn increase risk of mortality from COVID-19. Alcohol-related diseases, injuries and accidents burden healthcare systems and emergency services which are struggling during the pandemic.
For the above and many other reasons reducing alcohol availability during the pandemic is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) because in addition to ensuring people adhere to protective health measures, limiting the availability of alcohol helps reduce alcohol consumption, thereby reducing the pandemic burden in the short term and aids pandemic recovery in the long term.