The Rise Up Health and Fitness gym is now closed until further notice after the Government of Saskatchewan declared a provincial state of emergency. (Facebook/Rise Up Health and Fitness)

By Nicole Reis

State of Emergency Declared

Provincial state of emergency closes most local businesses but not all

Mar 18, 2020 | 5:12 PM

The Government of Saskatchewan has declared a provincial state of emergency due the COVID-19 pandemic. The province announced earlier Wednesday it has eight new presumptive cases, bringing the total number in Saskatchewan to 16.

Jenalee Blatz, co-owner of Rise Up Health and Fitness, told meadowlakeNOW upon hearing the provincial emergency procedures, she closed her fitness facility doors within 15 minutes.

“With this state of emergency, we do have to follow protocol and close the doors to the public, but it is to keep everybody safe and healthy,” she said. “Doing this sooner rather than later will allow for a sooner recovery. That’s what I’m hoping.”

The business owner said she has bills, loan payments and mortgage payments though is staying optimistic to get through challenging times.

“Even though it is scary, money is just a physical thing, obviously health and wellbeing is most important,” she said. ”People in my life I’ve spoken with have gone bankrupt and are still healthy and working today. We all know how to make money — we’ll figure out a way to survive.”

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Over the last few days amidst the COVID-19 developments, Blatz kept her business open to maintain normalcy within the community.

Evan Haubrich, president of the Meadow Lake Chamber of Commerce, is encouraging the public to support local businesses as much as possible.

“Even if we can’t support businesses now, we can remember that a lot of businesses are offering takeout and delivery options and think of purchasing a gift card for later use,” he said.

Haubrich said he believes in resilience within the Meadow Lake business community and recommends the public work together to keep the virus contained.

According to the province, the following measures are effective immediately:

• Public gatherings larger than 50 people are prohibited.
• All restaurants, bars and event venues must limit their seating to 50 per cent of capacity or up to a maximum of 50 people, whichever is lesser. All must be able to ensure social distance of one to two meters between customers. Retail spaces including grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations are exempted from this policy but must have processes to maintain a one to two meter separation.
• All gyms, fitness centers, casinos and bingo halls are ordered to close until further notice.
• Residents are advised to limit any non-essential travel outside of Saskatchewan, with the exception of people who live in border communities and are commuting for work.
• Any licensed restaurants and taverns in Saskatchewan will be permitted to sell alcohol as an off-sale according to SLGA regulations indefinitely.
• All Crown utilities will implement bill-deferral programs allowing a zero-interest bill deferral for up to six months for Saskatchewan residents whose ability to make bill payments may be impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions.
• All Government of Saskatchewan ministries, agencies and Crown corporations will implement a phased-in work from home policy effective Monday, March 23, applicable to employees deemed non-essential. This means that any employees able to work from home should do so immediately, while providing managers a period to plan for work-force continuity.

—With files from CKOM News

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722