Regina doctor hopeful Sask. can curb recent spread of COVID

Dr. Andrea Lavoie is hoping medical professionals, the province and businesses can find a way to support each other to try and slow down the spread of COVID-19.

Lavoie, a cardiologist in Regina, was one of the hundreds of doctors who signed a letter sent to the province calling for more to be done to help limit the spread of the virus.

“Our role as physicians to the people of Saskatchewan is to ensure we take the best care of their health so we wanted to add our voice to the physicians who have been trying to guide the government into helping the people of Saskatchewan stay healthy,” Lavoie said.

She said she would like to see ways for the two fields to work together so businesses can continue to have support from people without the need to gather indoors.

Lavoie said temporarily closing down certain sectors where people gather – such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs, religious gatherings and gyms – could help limit the spread and help stop Saskatchewan’s numbers from rising any more.

“We know that looking at trying to prevent people being in close proximity to each other, especially when there’s such a high transmission rate in the community, is so important. Unfortunately, indoor dining does come with known risk and this is something we’d hope to want to clarify with the public. In the science, you’re two times more likely to develop COVID if you’re sitting in an inside restaurant,” Lavoie said.

She recommended people use takeout to continue to support local businesses. If a person does decide to go out, she said they should only dine with people who are in their bubble and follow all guidelines.

In the original letter, the doctors called for more masking so she was glad to see that step was taken when Saskatchewan implemented new measures Tuesday.

“We felt that this was a very important part of the prevention of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan and so we were very happy to see that the government moved towards mandatory making across the province in all areas, especially indoors, so that we could keep people safe,” Lavoie said.

She also said the group wants to see schools remain open, but with more measures taken to keep students and staff safe, as well as increased resources for 811 HealthLine and testing help.

She said the recent modelling shows the path Saskatchewan is on and that a wave is on the way. Numbers in Alberta, Manitoba and North Dakota have been on the rise and she said it’s worrisome Saskatchewan is on the same path.

“I think that’s where the urgency from the physician, nursing (and) health-care groups have come because we understand the implications of us not doing our prevention and the prevention really is us following these public health guidelines,” Lavoie said.

“When public health works, it looks like we overreacted. So we can all think back to March where everyone thought it was a false start when in fact nothing happened because we all did the right thing so the events were prevented.”

While numbers are on the rise, Lavoie is confident Saskatchewan residents can help reduce the numbers.

“The people of Saskatchewan really care about each other and we have to emphasize community-mindedness and how we virtually care for each other. We’ve seen people helping each other, food bank donations higher than ever, those things are so important. (We’ve seen) students sending Christmas cards and pen pals to long-term care people. Just really being creative and working together is the way we will be successful in getting through this,” Lavoie said.