NDP leader calls for gathering, capacity limits ahead of Christmas and New Year’s

NDP Leader Ryan Meili had some strong words for Premier Scott Moe on Wednesday, one day after the Saskatchewan government released modelling information showing that, without additional health measures, COVID-19 Omicron cases would skyrocket over the next few weeks.

“We’re the only province that hasn’t introduced any new measures,” Meili said. “We had the worst fourth wave in the entire country on every measure. We still have the lowest vaccination rate in the entire country.”

Now he’s calling for gathering and capacity restrictions in public places, and expanding the list of locations where public vaccination records are required.

The province has said that nothing is off the table and that if there is a surge of COVID cases, it would respond accordingly. But Meili said that’s not good enough, especially during a likely fifth wave.

“If Scott Moe refuses to do what he did with the fourth wave — wait until it’s too late, overwhelm our hospitals, cause the death of hundreds of people again — (if) he chooses to do that, it’s unforgiveable,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health reported another 14 cases of the Omicron variant had been detected in the province, increasing the total so far to 96.

On Tuesday, the province announced its daily COVID dashboard reporting would be unavailable for seven days over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

“December 24 to December 27 inclusive the website and COVID-19 dashboard will not be updated,” read a statement. “On Tuesday December 28, the website will include a total accumulated number of positive cases over the four-day period as well as a breakdown of cases by day,” read the news release.

The website will also not be updated between Jan. 1 and Jan. 3 inclusive. Total accumulated numbers will be reported on Jan. 4.

The NDP leader said Moe has had the chance to learn lessons over the previous four COVID waves but has refused to do so.

“Scott Moe is terrible at his job,” Meili said. “He puts politics ahead of people’s lives.

“His primary duty is to the people of Saskatchewan and he neglects that duty over and over again, because he’s more interested in pandering to extremists like the Unified Grassroots group that he’s happily calling up, when he ignores the doctors (and) the public health experts who are giving us clear advice on how to keep us safe.”

In a statement, the premier’s press secretary, Julie Leggott, said Saskatchewan is “one of two provinces reporting seven days per week and regular reporting will resume after the brief disruption relating to the holiday season.”

However, if there’s something “new or significant,” the government would communicate it to the public, she added.

On July 1, 2020, the provincial government stopped reporting daily COVID numbers on weekends and holidays. That decision was reversed less than two weeks later, after COVID-19 cases soared and the premier called it “quite concerning.” Case numbers for two days during that time totalled 54.

Regarding comments directed at the premier by Meili, Leggott said: “The only comment I can offer is to wish (Meili) a Merry Christmas.”