On May 7, La Loche Mayor Robert St. Pierre notified Minister of Government Relations Lori Carr that La Loche Council had passed a resolution recommending the full closure of all beverage alcohol related sales, distribution and consumption sites and uses in the Northern Village of La Loche, effective May 9th, 2020. The location will be closed for 2 weeks. La Loche has seen an extraordinary amount of cases lately, as the northern outbreak continues.

The mayor says it is the right move, due to the situation.

Numbers rising in La Loche, have seen the northern community become labeled as an epicentre for the virus. Mass testing has been going on in the area, but accurate numbers are still not guaranteed as some households contain more than 10 people, and their list of contacts could be just as extensive. Data shows that young people in La Loche are a majority of the infected, and this is the main threat to transmission of the virus to the older population. Two of the deaths in Saskatchewan were elderly residents of the La Loche Health Centre.

Suspending the sale of liquor in the area is an attempt to negate the social gathering of 10 or more people, as well as preventing a steady flow of traffic from the community’s SLGA liquor store as well as off-sale locations. Checkpoints around the community will also be established to make sure there is no alcohol being brought into the community.

Plans are in place for people with alcohol or other substance dependencies, and the community is already registering those people who need alcohol, to ensure they are supported.

A major emphasis has been put on travel restrictions to and among the northern parts of the province, as checkpoints are also setup to educate people on the dangers of their travels.