Living with COVID-19: Masks still required in SHA facilities
Facial masks have become a common sight in Saskatchewan over the past two years. People wear them at the grocery store, at work, at school. Some have even turned them into a fashion accessory.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority was ahead of its time when it came to masks. Many of our staff wore them all day, every day, long before it was provincially mandated to do so, just by the nature of their jobs. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, we started asking everyone coming in to one of our facilities to wear a mask, and we are still requiring that everyone who comes through our doors wears a medical-grade face mask, even though the provincial mandate on masks in indoor facilities has ceased.
Why, you ask?
Because within the walls of our facilities, we are caring for extremely vulnerable people. Many of our patients and residents are immunocompromised, very old, very young, or otherwise extremely susceptible to infection. Masking helps protect these patients from a host of viruses including COVID-19 and influenza that could potentially cause them real harm.
And masking isn’t a hard thing to do.
Medical-grade face masks will be available just inside the entrances to all SHA facilities. Just slip one on, wear it correctly, and everyone within our facilities will be that much safer. Refuse to wear one, and you can be refused entry.
