As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Saskatoon’s hospitals will move from Level 2 family presence and visitation to Level 1.

That allows for patients at Royal University, St. Paul’s and Saskatoon City Hospitals to designate two essential family or support persons to provide in-person support. In Level 2, only one person could be designated as essential. However, only one person can visit the patient at a time, with the exception of maternal or children’s services. The change was made due to declining rates of new COVID-19 infections in Saskatoon, although this change doesn’t apply to units experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak. The Saskatchewan Health Authority is not yet ready to expand family presence in any of the three Saskatoon hospital Emergency Departments with family presence dependent on physical capacity in those E-Ds and the number of patients waiting.