La Loche mayor: Stay at home messages taking hold

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in La Loche and the surrounding area, the northern village’s mayor is looking towards better days ahead.

Mayor Robert St. Pierre told Saskatchewan Afternoon on Friday that it took awhile for people to get the message to physically distance from each other.

“Some people were just not adhering to the health orders and the recommendations from leadership,” he said.

The cluster of cases, which began just over two weeks ago, has led to La Loche becoming the epicentre of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. As of Friday there were 179 total reported cases in the province’s far north, with 148 still active. Two elders in the community have died.

Several Facebook posts, including those attributed to health officials, have suggested that partying among young people has been a contributing factor to the high number of cases.

But St. Pierre said that activity is starting to die down.

“Most of that has been ironed out … the communication between everyone in the community is reaching them,” he said.

The mayor noted more positive cases are expected to be found in the coming days, but he’s hopeful that better days may not be very far away with people now following public health orders.

“I’m optimistic we’ll get through this hard part, and we’ll start to see some recoveries,” he said.

“(We hope) we don’t see any more losses of life, that’s the main goal.”

When asked about the food situation in the village, St. Pierre said a grocery store that was shut down due to a worker testing positive will be reopened within the next few days — providing a more stable food supply for the community.

He also applauded nurses from other areas of Saskatchewan who volunteered to come to the area to help treat patients and assist with testing and contact tracing.

“We are thanking them every day for making that sacrifice,” he said.

“It’s not easy to come to another community that has COVID-19.”