Opposition NDP disappointed in province’s Omicron response

Saskatchewan is doomed to repeat the failures of the first four waves of COVID-19, according to the province’s official opposition.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili said the province has had weeks of forewarning — ample time to get ahead of the Omicron variant — yet the government continues to wait instead of being proactive with restrictions.

Meili called the day Thursday a “striking” one, with the announcement of 589 new COVID-19 cases, the province’s highest single-day total of COVID-19 cases since Sept. 30. But an update on COVID-19 from the provincial government Thursday did not introduce any new restrictions or public health measures.

Vicki Mowat, the NDP’s health critic, said she felt extremely disappointed watching the provincial news conference Thursday.

“The premier is determined to be the worst premier in the country at handling COVID-19. Instead of increasing public health measures, he’s reducing them,” Mowat said.

With a test positivity rate nearing 25 per cent, Meili said a rapid increase in hospitalizations is due for the province, though there haven’t been any hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant as of yet in Saskatchewan.

Meili said the government is ignoring lessons from its own failures as well as lessons being learned from the new variant around the world.

“(This) isn’t how it should be and it certainly isn’t how I would be doing things,” he said.

If he was the premier today, Meili said he would not be decreasing case and hospitalization information and would closely monitor the trends in the rest of the country. He would also introduce gathering restrictions.

With the province’s emphasis on rapid test use, Premier Scott Moe said Thursday daily cases reported would not be as accurately represented given that positive rapid test cases are now only required to isolate for five days beginning immediately rather than follow up that result with a PCR test.

As a result, the premier said hospitalizations and ICU data will be a better indicator moving forward of how the province is faring against the virus.

Mowat said the premier is hiding information, with Meili adding that the Saskatchewan Party has taken a step backwards in transparency and restrictions.

With no further restrictions in place, Meili predicted Saskatchewan will soon face another surge in cases much like the recent fourth wave.

The NDP leader also said he doesn’t think the province is prepared to face another surge in COVID cases, with the province’s hospitals and health-care staff still exhausted from the previous wave.

“My only remaining hope is in the people of Saskatchewan, that they will hear this message,” Meili said, encouraging people to get their COVID vaccines and booster shots, and to stay away from large gatherings.

While Meili acknowledges that booster vaccines and rapid tests are helpful tools, he noted they aren’t perfect and false negatives can contribute to spreading COVID-19. He and Mowat also noted Saskatchewan still has the lowest vaccination rate in Canada.

He said the province has “failed in that goal (to protect the health-care system) over and over again and they’re about to do so again.”

“That is a failure on the part of this government,” Meili stated.

The opposition leader wished Saskatchewan residents a happy new year, but “with not a lot of people.”

“We’re back in the same mess that Scott Moe got us into in the fourth wave,” Meili said.