Saskatoon police expect to break up more gatherings as COVID-19 pandemic drags on

As people remain largely confined to their homes during the COVID-19 outbreak, Saskatoon's police chief says he expects to get more calls to remind people to keep their distance from each other.

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer limited all public gatherings to 10 people, down from a prior limit of 25 people.

Chief Troy Cooper said the force has already been called to a handful of parties, but expects those calls will increase soon.

"As we go longer and longer into a period of isolation it's going to be more and more of a challenge for us," he said.

"It's the same as it is with parents to make sure to monitor the activities of people who have been isolated for a while."

The province instituted the cap on gatherings in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Cooper said people have been reasonable about the guideline so far.

"We do our best in those cases just to simply remind people of the legislation under the public health act not to gather," he said.

Meanwhile, Cooper said the force was doing its best to adapt to the new situation.

He said more officers are being placed in frontline positions, having been redeployed from the traffic unit and community relations.

As well, he said police are trying to deal with more non-emergency cases over the phone, rather than send an officer out to talk to people.

"It's added additional resources for us," said Cooper.

Cooper said closing the front desk and limiting fingerprinting as much as possible have helped keep officers safe.

While officers have been tested for COVID-19, so far all tests have come back as negative. Cooper said most of the potential cases were related to international travel.