SASKATOON -- Check back throughout the day for the latest on COVID-19 in Saskatoon and area.

If you're concerned you might be infected with COVID-19, the Saskatchewan COVID-19 self assessment tool is a helpful resource.

Here's advice on how to practice physical/social distancing and how to properly self-isolate at home.

Health services resume

Some health services are allowed to resume in parts of Saskatchewan, as part of the first phase of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) plan toward reopening the health system. In a release, the SHA called its first phase of reopening a "cautious first step."

The first phase of the SHA’s reopen plan includes a focus on resuming some everyday services like outpatient physiotherapy appointments, kidney health services, some laboratory services, home care and expanding immunizations.

A return to paid parking

During a committee meeting on Tuesday, City Council voted 10-1 in favour of restarting the pay parking program beginning next Monday instead of June 1 which was the date proposed by city administration.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began, pay parking requirements were suspended to ensure residents would not be limited in their ability to adhere to public health orders to stay home or to self-isolate.

Some travel restrictions eased

On Tuesday, the provincial government relaxed its COVID-19 travel restrictions for some communities in Saskatchewan's far north and provided clearer guidelines for those still affected by the ban.

On April 24 the province restricted all non-essential travel to and from the province's Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NASD).

Those restrictions were further tightened a few days later, with the province placing controls on travel between communities inside the NASD.

On Tuesday, in a news release, the Government of Saskatchewan said because the COVID-19 risk of transmission has "regionalized" in the north the current public health order has been amended to only restrict travel in the northwest portion of the NASD.

Seven new cases

The provincal government said there were seven new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, along with 15 new recoveries.

All of the new cases were found in the province’s far north region, with four postive test results in Beauval and three in La Loche.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been  599 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.

Of those cases, 123 are considered active, with 107 concentrated in the far north.

Drug limits lifting

The Government of Saskatchewan announced Tuesday that it is lifting the supply limit placed prescription medications.

This change will be effective on Wednesday.

Saskatchewan residents will be able to fill prescriptions as they did before COVID-19. There may be exceptions if a particular drug is in short supply.

The province decided to limit drug supply to prevent shortages to ensure patients would be able to continue accessing necessary medications.

The change resuted in additional costs for many who rely on prescription drugs to manage health conditions. 

Not all retailers choosing to reopen

Despite getting the green light from the provincial government to open the doors to customers, one retailer in Saskatoon is choosing not to.

“This has been a challenging decision,” said owner and founder of Prairie Proud Cole Thorpe. “I think every retailer has been faced with challenges in the last couple of months and this Is another one.”

Thorpe said Prairie Proud has been offering curbside pickup and delivery from its online store and will continue to do so.

“We’re going to take the conservative approach and really see how the province does,” Thorpe said. “Hopefully we don’t see a second wave of this.”

Border to stay closed

An agreement has been reached between Canada and the United States to keep the border closed to all non-essential travel for another month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced.

The extension on the existing agreement means that the border restrictions will stay in place until June 21, even as parts of both countries begin gradually reopening. 

Long weekend recap

The province of Saskatchewan reported  no new cases of COVID-19  on Victoria Day Monday.

As of Monday there were 131 active cases in Saskatchewan with 110 of those cases concentrated in the far north.

Since the start of the pandemic there have been 592 cases of COVID-19, in the province with 455 recoveries and six deaths related to the virus.

On Saturday Saskatchewan has surpassed 40,000 COVID-19 tests performed, according to  the province.

The province’s per capita rate of testing is 30,726 people tested per million population, slightly behind the national rate of 32,802 tested per million population.