NDP leader calls on premier to release chief Sask. health officer recommendations

The province’s official opposition wants to know what Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer is recommending, and it wants to see them followed.

On Friday, NDP leader Ryan Meili called for all current recommendations made by Dr. Saqib Shahab to be released to the public and challenged the Sask. Party government to follow those recommendations.

Meili acknowledged the fatigue of Saskatchewan residents in dealing with the pandemic — especially healthcare workers, who Meili said he hears from daily.

“Nobody wants another wave, nobody wants to have to deal with the situation that we’re in,” he said.

With “incredible” amounts of pressure on hospitals “and on hardworking people who’ve been there for us throughout this pandemic,” Meili said premier Scott Moe has not “been there” for Saskatchewan people.

He called on the premier to be honest and transparent with people — particularly in regard to COVID-19 deaths in the province — though Meili said Moe has instead tried to spin facts and “downplay the fact that our hospitalizations have already risen by nearly 200 per cent this month and are only set to grow.”

Meili wants to see Moe put measures in place according to the recommendations made by Shahab.

“This is what Scott Moe promised to do,” Meili said, noting that even though rising hospitalizations — which Moe had previously stated might be a cause for further action — have come to fruition, have not prompted the premier to act.

Vicki Mowat, health critic for the official opposition, said Saskatchewan is in need of action as the province faces possible record-high hospitalizations in February and several hundred government employees are asked to lend their efforts to the province’s healthcare system.

“Action that is evidence-based to protect the health of Saskatchewan people and the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed yet again,” Mowat said.

Mowat noted that minister of health Paul Merriman has only addressed the public once in the past three weeks.

“He’s only come out of hiding to defend his partisan appointment to the SHA,” Mowat said.

Referencing leaked modelling, Mowat drew attention to rising hospitalizations that are threatening to double the peak number of people in hospital seen in Saskatchewan during the fourth wave by sometime next month.

She also stated that the premier has recently defended hospital numbers and spread misinformation about the efficacy of gathering restrictions.

Government calling non-healthcare employees to fill new roles

Vicki Mowat said the need for a solid surge plan is part of the all-hands-on-deck approach needed for Saskatchewan hospitals at this time.

She noted that while the government has requested 500 employees step up to assist with non-healthcare related duties by being redeployed, there is need to consider which positions are to be filled.

Mowat said positions like continuing care aids and administrative assistants have gone to school to do their jobs and filling these positions might require more training than can be provided in a condensed period of time.

She also noted the chronic understaffing in Saskatchewan’s healthcare system predates COVID-19, though the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic. She said a more comprehensive plan to fill those needs is necessary.

“We talk about the surge capacity in the health care system but we also need front-end measures to make sure that people don’t get sick in the first place, to make sure that people don’t end up in hospital in the first place,” she said.

For now, Mowat urged the government heed the opinions of experts about implementing “reasonable” public health restrictions, like 10-person gathering limits and postponing large events to limit the potential impact on hospitals.

“No one is calling for lockdowns,” she said,

Calling on Paul Merriman and SHA leadership, Meili asked that everyone in the province with healthcare training be reached out to in order to help relieve pressure mounting on hospitals in Saskatchewan during this fifth wave.

Meili’s call included people who are retired, have left the profession and who are working casual or part-time.

“Invite them in, make it clear they will be properly compensated for the work that they do but call on them now because we need all hands on deck,” he said.

COVID deaths in Saskatchewan

Early Friday afternoon, Meili said he suspects information on COVID-19 deaths has been “inaccurate … throughout the pandemic.

“I’ve been hearing more about that in recent weeks,” Meili said.

He said those suspicions are partially based on work done by Dr. Tara Moriarty from the University of Toronto, who has been examining excess deaths throughout COVID-19.

“That’s especially troubling as the premier has sort of moved to this idea that deaths — and the fact that we haven’t had any recorded COVID-19 deaths in January — means we have nothing to be worried about,” Meili said.

Friday’s COVID update from the province reported nine new deaths in the province, the first time a death has been reported in two weeks.

“We need to make sure that people understand the true story of what’s happening in Saskatchewan so that people will be motivated to act and keep each other safe,” he said.