With Manitoba going into another lockdown, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili and Economy and Jobs critic Aleana Young called on the provincial government to talk to its neighbours and ask what they would have done several weeks ago to avoid getting into the situation they are currently in.
Over a Zoom press conference from Saskatoon on Thursday, Meili noted Saskatchewan has seen a 500 per cent increase in the number of new cases in the last 30 days, and hospitals have seen a 600 per cent increase in admissions.
“Our hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed,” Meili said.
On Thursday, Saskatchewan posted 111 new cases. This province had 49 people in hospital, 13 of which are in intensive care, and 15 recoveries. Saskatchewan had 1,459 active cases.
Next door, Manitoba posted 474 new cases, nine deaths and 111 recoveries, with 227 in hospital and 34 in intensive care. Manitoba had 6,030 active cases.
Learning from our neighbours was a point Meili stressed. He said: “Let's be looking at what could prevent us getting into a situation like Manitoba, Alberta and North Dakota are in. And this is where, you know, the first step is to say, we're actually interested in trying.
“And when I hear from Scott Moe, there's no interest in either looking at all the options, that's very disturbing. And yesterday we heard from Saskatchewan doctors, a call for leadership for action to address this surge this spike in new cases.”
The government’s daily COVID-19 update on Nov. 12 said the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health and chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab are currently considering additional public health measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. These measures will be announced on Friday at 11:30 a.m.
Meili noted 402 doctors had now signed a public letter, released Wednesday, calling on the province to take more action on COVID-19. A doctor himself, Meili said he had not signed it, as he didn’t feel it would be appropriate for him to sign a letter that is advocacy for political action.
He added, “A whole lot of my colleagues and friends have signed, and I think it’s really good to see physicians being willing to step up and take that advocacy role. It’s a key role for doctors, as they’re on the front lines, seeing what’s happening, sounding the alarms when those alarms need to be sounded.”
Speaking from Regina, Young pointed out she is a small business owner. She said the government has had eight months to plan for a second wave in the fall, but said there was no plan.
“Businesses are still hurting here in Saskatchewan. We're hearing that loud and clear across the province, and even without a shutdown, we're facing real challenges.”
She noted most businesses rely on a good summer, and most need a good holiday season. Young said, “If we don't get this right, it's going to be a disaster for small businesses. And what we're seeing right now is a complete lack of information, a complete lack of clarity, and a complete lack of anything approaching the plan from this government.
“With Christmas coming, I think what all businesses are looking for is some clarity, and some sort of information around what thresholds look like. As we know from the spring, shutdowns happen very quickly, but re-openings happen slowly. And right now, with the complete lack of information and lack of leadership from the government on small businesses and the employees who rely on them in this province, anxiety is high.”
Meili said, “If we get this wrong, if we get the health and safety side wrong, it's going to be incredibly damaging for Saskatchewan’s economy. But this is a premier who campaigned on the idea that this was over, but it's not over. It has not been taken care of. And in fact, we're about to face our worst period yet.”
Asked if he was calling for a lockdown, Meili responded, “What we're calling for is clarity and action from this government, the same thing that the physicians are calling for.
Manitoba announced on Tuesday it is moving into what it called the red zone, with a series of new restrictions. Those restrictions took effect Thursday.
Asked if he’s calling for the same restrictions as Manitoba, Meili said, “That's what we're likely to face if this continues and that's why I'm calling on this government to act now in a more focused and precise way, and to talk to those jurisdictions, what would you have done, when you were at our stage?”
Meili said that a mask mandate should be implemented across the entire province, not just Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
He also called for smaller classroom sizes.
