Article content
It’s never been right to talk about “political wins” during this COVID-19 pandemic, and it seems especially misplaced to talk about Premier Scott Moe’s political wins after the week he’s just had.
Saskatchewan now has the highest per capita COVID-19 hospitalization rate in the country and record ICU numbers. So bad are things in Regina that ICU doctors pleaded with Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman to come and see the mess for themselves an invitation quickly rejected by reason of politicians not wanting to get in the way in crowded ICUs.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Article content
Mere hours after Seniors Minister Everett Hindley held his first COVID-19 briefing Thursday to announce a loosening of restrictions in Saskatchewan care homes by Mother’s Day, doctors in the province were hit with a far different message.
The latter came in the weekly Thursday evening “physicians’ town hall” held by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) that proclaimed the only area of controllable COVID-19 transmission risk in this province this past week was confined to the Cumberland region in the province’s far northeast. The southern three-quarters of the province’s grainbelt was categorized as areas where there is a “high likelihood that COVID transmission is not controlled.”
Mandryk: Moe s focus will continue to be on a big win with vaccines melfortjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from melfortjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Article content
Saskatoon’s mayor is asking people to avoid a “children’s freedom rally fun day” this weekend in Kiwanis Memorial Park.
A flyer circulating on social media says the event is intended to celebrate freedom, but is mostly about “children having fun.” The flyer, which does not indicate who is planning the event, promises a fish pond, balloon animals and science experiments.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or Saskatoon, Maple Creek mayors caution against freedom gatherings Back to video
“(Saturday’s event) is organized as part of the anti-mask activities and is irresponsible and dangerous,” Mayor Charlie Clark posted on Twitter Thursday afternoon. “I expect enforcement measures to be in place and the organizers be held accountable for bringing this threat to our community.”
“If current trajectory holds, our health system will be overrun,” reads one slide.
Health Minister Paul Merriman said the modelling that underpins that prediction is one of many factors officials look at in determining the extent of public health orders to curb transmission.
“Modelling is important, but it hasn’t been the only thing that we’ve been using as far as what we’re looking at for restrictions and our vaccine rollout,” Merriman said.
Saskatchewan reported 221 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. Two more people with the virus have died, and 190 are in hospital, including 44 in intensive care.
Advertisement