A surprise decision to loosen some of the territory’s COVID-19 health restrictions has caught people by surprise.

The date for revising group gathering sizes was announced early last Friday afternoon.

A possible increase in gathering sizes and social bubbles had been announced the previous Wednesday during the weekly COVID-19 briefing with Premier Sandy Silver and the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Brendan Hanley.

Under the new rules,

• bars and restaurants will be able to return to full capacity for table service;

• social bubbles can increase to 20 individuals;

• social gathering sizes can increase with physical distancing;

• indoor gatherings can be up to 20 individuals with mask use;

• outdoor gatherings can be up to 100 individuals;

• organized indoor and outdoor gatherings and events can expand to 200 individuals with physical distancing provided the venue or space can accommodate that ;

• funerals, weddings and faith-based services can increase to 200 individuals with physical distancing provided the venue or space can accommodate that;

• gyms and recreation centres can expand to 200 individuals with physical distancing provided the venue or space can accommodate that; and

• camps and recreational programs can increase to 20 individuals indoors with physical distancing and mask use and 100 individuals outdoors with physical distancing.

The changes coincide with today’s relaxation of rules for fully-vaccinated Canadian travellers entering the territory.

“These individuals will need to sign a declaration that they have been fully vaccinated and will also need to provide consent for the verification of their vaccination status in order to be exempt from self-isolation requirements,” a news release from the government stated.

If an individual provides consent for the verification of his or her vaccination status, personal health information will only be accessed by Department of Health and Social Services staff who are authorized under the Health Information Protection and Management Act.

“If an individual does not want to consent to providing that information, they can still enter the territory as long as they self-isolate for 14 days.”

Household hosts of those travellers who self-isolate must also self-isolate unless the hosts are fully vaccinated.

“These changes are based on recommendations from (Hanley) and are guided by ‘A Path Forward: Yukon’s plan for lifting COVID-19 restrictions,’” the news release stated.

Yukoners are still required to follow the Safe 6 plus 1, which means wearing a mask in indoor public places.

“Yukon is in a good place right now, and our risk levels are much lower than just a few weeks ago,” Hanley said.

“I believe that based on our current risk levels, we can support the easing of some public health measures while ensuring the well-being and safety of Yukoners remains top of mind.”

As of last Thursday, 27,381 first doses of vaccine have been provided to Yukoners and 24,153 second doses.

Tim Kucharuk, a communications manager for the Yukon Party, wasn’t unduly impressed at the news.

“During the election, the Yukon Party was the only party promising to release a clear path forward towards reopening that included timelines and benchmarks,” he said.

“At the time, the Liberals said that this was dangerous. In fact, the premier and the now-deputy premier (Tracy-Anne McPhee) held a press conference in the last days of the election to denounce such an action.”

Kucharuk and the party weren’t altogether negative in their reactions.

“Measures to relax restrictions for bars and restaurants or to make travel easier will hopefully go a long way to supporting our hospitality and tourism sectors,” he said.

However, he criticized the announcement for its timing and its lack of clarity.

“Unfortunately, their most recent announcement still lacks many details,” Kucharuk said.

“Further, this information was released on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend – and the new rules took effect today.

“This last-minute approach to the release of information has become a trend under the Liberals and NDP, and all it does is create confusion,” Kucharuk added.

“Over the weekend, we heard from many businesses that were seeking more clarity on how this will all work as they were unable to get information from the government.

“While some restrictions are being lifted, we encourage all people to continue following the latest advice from public health officials.”

No one from the NDP was made available to the Star before press time this afternoon to comment on the changes.