Moe again defends timing of government’s decisions on COVID

Where is the apology?

That has been a popular question raised over the past 24 hours since Premier Scott Moe unveiled more COVID-19 measures.

Some critics claim Moe should have apologized for not putting in public health measures sooner to combat the fourth wave of COVID in the province.

On Friday, Moe was asked by John Gormley why the premier didn’t issue an apology similar to the one offered Wednesday by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who said it was clear his government should have had measures in place sooner.

Moe, who dodged the question repeatedly during Thursday’s media conference, said Friday the situation regarding COVID in Saskatchewan has been continuously changing and so has the decision-making.

“We have always made the decisions with the the information that we have at that point in time,” he said. “The information that we have today is that we have a large number of ICU patients in our hospitals, likely more coming in between now and sometime in early October, and we’re preparing for that.

“That is ultimately what precipitated this decision. We’ve been clear from Day 1: When we make moves like this, it is to protect that health-care system.”

On Thursday, the provincial government reintroduced a mask mandate, and will require people to provide their vaccination status at businesses and venues starting on Oct. 1.

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour is among the groups who claim those measures should have been put in place weeks earlier.

In a statement, the SFL called on Moe “to apologize to Saskatchewan frontline workers for ignoring repeated calls from health-care professionals and dropping all public health restrictions that led to a disastrous fourth wave of COVID-19 that has overwhelmed our health-care system and pushed workers to the brink.”

“This situation was entirely avoidable, and is a direct result of the Sask. Party putting politics over public health and failing to listen to the science and health care professionals,” SFL president Lori Johb said in the statement.

“We’ve been calling for additional measures to be put in place for weeks, and the Sask. Party has done nothing but delay while the virus continues to spread. The premier and the Sask. Party owe every frontline worker who will be dealing with the consequences of their inaction an apology.”

NDP Leader Ryan Meili also called on Moe to apologize.

During his conversation with Gormley, Moe said now that the health-care system throughout the province is starting to see pressure from rising hospitalizations, it was necessary to implement measures to ease that burden.

“We have a health-care system that is again under pressure, predominantly due to COVID patients. And of those COVID patients, 80 per cent of them are unvaccinated, representing 30 per cent of the population,” Moe said. “And so it’s time for us to have a good look in the mirror here in this province and start to move forward with some some some better decisions.

“As we move forward, these public health measures will come in when they’re needed to protect our hospital system. But ultimately, the path through this is to just continue to get people in this province vaccinated one at a time until we get to a high enough number that we can find our way through to the end of this.”

Moe also touched on his thoughts when it comes to unvaccinated people looking to get a negative test.

He believes people who are choosing to stay unvaccinated will have to pay the bill for their own rapid tests.

“We don’t think it’s right for the public to pay for a negative test for someone that will not choose to take the vaccine, so they’ll have to procure and pay for them themselves,” Moe said.

On Thursday, the province reported 439 new cases of COVID-19. Of those, 347 weren’t vaccinated — and 98 of those were under the age of 12. That age group currently isn’t eligible to be vaccinated.