Yukon to lift some COVID-19 capacity limits as Omicron peaks: premier

WHITEHORSE -

Yukon is lifting some COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings and capacity limits starting Friday as the Omicron variant peaks in the territory.

Premier Sandy Silver announced Thursday indoor organized gatherings and group fitness will no longer be capped at 25 people, but venue capacity limits of 50 per cent and proof of vaccination will still be needed.

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Movie theatres, museums and salons will no longer be limited to half their capacity.

Indoor faith gatherings will be restricted to 50 per cent of venue capacity but proof of vaccination will not be required.

Public saunas and steam rooms may also reopen at 50 per cent capacity and proof of vaccination for people 19 and older.

Casinos and nightclubs will be permitted to reopen to those who have proof of vaccination, and bars and restaurants may return to their normal operating hours.

While the territory's state of emergency announced in November remains in place, Silver said officials are hoping to lift all but a few restrictions by March.

He said the indoor mask mandate and vaccine requirements for some workers would remain past March.

"We are trending towards safer waters," he told a news conference. "We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming weeks and hopefully we'll be in a position to continue to loosen public health measures if we stay on this track."

When asked about the anti-mandate protests in parts of Canada, Silver said he knows everybody is frustrated by the pandemic.

The premier said he agrees with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to deal with the protests, while also supporting people's right to demonstrate peacefully.

"That's key to our democratic process, but what I can't condone would be any of the disruptive or disrespectful behaviour that we're seeing, (like) people taking their anger and frustration out on front-line health-care workers," he said. "We've seen business operators threatened for supporting public health measures. That's unacceptable."

He said his government's decisions have been guided primarily by science, which have been effective so far.

Acting chief medical officer of health Dr. Catherine Elliott said there were 12 new and 61 active cases of COVID-19 in the territory as of Thursday.

There have been 20 deaths recorded in Yukon since the pandemic began and Elliott cautioned that the territory is "not completely out of the storm yet."

"What happens next will depend, still, on what we do and how we make the wise choices," she said. "We know it's not over. We know what we do now will affect whether we stabilize and (cases) continue to come down or whether we go up again."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.