The Saskatchewan government confirmed Sunday afternoon that effective July 11th, all public health measures in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 will be lifted. The move comes as over the weekend, the threshold of 70 percent of the population over the 18 receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, and 69 percent of those over 12 receiving their vaccine as of Sunday afternoon.

This will mean that all measures, including the mandatory masking orders in place and the removal of limits on events and gathering sizes, will be over.

"As we are now so close to the final threshold, we are able to announce that Step 3 will be fully implemented on Sunday, July 11," Premier Scott Moe said. "We are able to make this announcement because so many Saskatchewan residents have done their part by getting vaccinated, so I'd like to say thanks to Saskatchewan people.  Over the past 15 months, Saskatchewan residents have diligently followed public health guidelines and restrictions, and over the past months they have followed through by getting vaccinated."

The news came as 60 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, along with 76 recoveries, Sunday afternoon. One death connected to COVID was also reported – a person in the 70-79 age group in the North West zone.

The new cases were primarily reported in the Saskatoon zone, where there were 27 new cases. Another nine cases were reported each in the North West and Regina zones, with four more in the North Central and Far North West zones. There were three cases reported in the South Central zone, two in the South East zone and one each in the Far North East and Central West zones.

There are 79 people in the hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19, with 12 of those in intensive care.