Residents of the southeast corner of the province deserve a lot of credit for the way in which they have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
When it hit, we altered our lives, cancelled events, closed down businesses, rescheduled vacations and moved to distance learning, even though there were few cases in the province in the initial days of COVID-19. We didn’t know how many cases we would have, but we knew there would be cases.
Our efforts worked.
Do you want to know why our numbers in the southeast have been relatively low? It’s not because concerns about COVID are overblown; the numbers that we’ve seen elsewhere, most notably in the U.S., are a testament to how dangerous this virus can be.
Our numbers are low because we did our part.
We’re not alone. For the most part, Saskatchewan residents have done a pretty good job in “stopping the spread.” Most of Saskatchewan’s cases can be traced to outbreaks up north and in communal living settings, which occurred because people foolishly didn’t heed warnings.
Even in the big centres of Saskatoon and Regina, case numbers have been lower than what most feared.
But if you’ll indulge in a little self-congratulatory bragging, the southeast region has likely done a better job than anyone else in the province. The far northeast and far north-central areas have had fewer cases, but they’re sparsely populated.
When the Ministry of Health finally started releasing more detailed information of COVID-19 cases, with breakdowns by 13 regions rather than six vast territories often the size of an Atlantic Canada province, it showed that, as of Aug. 4, we had 11 cases in nearly five months. Five of those 11 cases were active; most were in Weyburn’s zone.
From there, we didn’t have a case in the southeast for more than a month. The first case for Southeast Zone 4, the zone that includes Estevan, wasn’t diagnosed until Sept. 17.
(It should also be noted that Southeast Zone 4 is the fourth most populous zone in the province, excluding Saskatoon and Regina, with more than 31,000 people. So to go more than six weeks without a case is stunning).
We had four cases from Sept. 17-21, bringing our total for the entire southeast region to 18. We had to know that eventually we would see an uptick in cases, especially in Zone 4 given the population.
This is likely the first time we’ve had four active cases in Zone 4 since the pandemic began.
At the same time, just because we’ve had our largest increase in cases in a four-day span since this pandemic started doesn’t mean we should be paranoid about the virus. We shouldn’t take the Chicken Little approach, running around, screaming the sky is falling. This doesn’t mean we’re going to see an explosion in cases similar to what we saw in southwest Saskatchewan or the far northwest region.
But it does serve as a reminder that we need to be smart. Don’t have a massive gathering of people with 50 people in a small indoor setting. Don’t have a big party in a local park with over a thousand people. Whenever possible, obey social distancing. Follow the arrows at grocery stores and other retail establishments. Don’t pretend you’re immune from this virus.
And once Zone 4, and the southeast region, returns to zero active cases, we can’t fall into the trap of complacency. Don’t think providentially.
It would be nice if the Saskatchewan Health Authority would disclose where these cases in Zone 4 are located, or at least if they’re from inside Estevan or outside of the city. That sort of communication has been lacking since the pandemic started.
You’d hope that if these cases were connected, the government would disclose it. You’d certainly hope that if they were from a senior’s home or a school, that the government would announce it.
And if these people have been to businesses, it will eventually come out.
It’s not easy to hear that someone in our corner of the province has tested positive for COVID after so many weeks without a case, but it does remind us to be vigilant without being paranoid.
