'Full-blown crisis': Sask. doctors' association calls for gathering limits to fight COVID-19
Indoor gathering limits for private and public events must be implemented immediately as a public health order, according to the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA).
“We need more action now to lessen the harm Saskatchewan citizens are experiencing from COVID-19, as well as the trauma felt by those working in our health-care system,” SMA president Dr. Eben Strydom said in a news release.
The group’s proclamation comes in the wake of the news that Saskatchewan has been transferring patients to Ontario.
“The transfer of critically ill patients out of Saskatchewan to Ontario is a clear sign that our health system can’t cope,” Strydom said.
“This is not a medical challenge – it is a full-blown crisis that will only get worse as COVID-19 cases continue to jeopardize our ability to care for all Saskatchewan patients, even those who aren’t suffering from a COVID illness.”
The SMA and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) called for additional public health measures to blunt the fourth wave of the pandemic on Sept. 29.
At that time, the health system was already the pausing elective surgeries and suspending the province’s organ donation program to manage the strain from the pandemic, according to the SMA.
Modelling data shows ICU cases potentially doubling to 200 by Jan. 1, 2022 without additional public health measures and if people don’t immediately limit their contacts, Strydom said.
He said the government’s present course is based on a mistaken belief that restrictions penalize the vaccinated.
“No one is penalized by public health measures that protect people and safeguard the viability of the health system, which is now strained beyond capacity.
“In fact, it’s the opposite. A lack of additional measures, which have proven effective during previous waves of the pandemic, puts people at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, puts further pressure on the health system, and jeopardizes the care of all patients in Saskatchewan.”
He said the province needs to be vigilant for up to four weeks until cases decrease to 10 per 100,000 people from the present 26 per 100,000 people, and ICU numbers drop substantially.
Canadian Medical Association President Dr. Katharine Smart also called for action.
"As a proud Saskatchewan doctor now living in the North, I urge Premier Scott Moe to adopt the following priorities. We urge the provincial government to increase vaccination rates through mandatory vaccination in health care settings; immediately institute circuit breakers; and seek help from other jurisdictions to provide additional support for workers and patients in need," she said in a news release.
"We have come too far for too long to allow this situation to continue. As we’ve said before, it is time for courageous action and a focus on collaboration. The people of Saskatchewan deserve better."
Premier Scott Moe said earlier this week that mandated limits on gathering sizes remain off the table.
“At the end of the day, we do not want to implement these very blunt public health measures across the vast majority of Saskatchewan residents,” Moe told CTV News.
“The vast majority of Saskatchewan people have gone out and done the right thing.”
As of Wednesday, 323 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, including 82 in ICU.
Epidemiologist Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine says people need clear guidance when it comes to following COVID-19 measures.
He says COVID-19 progressions show it took more than three months to flatten the third wave. Given the Delta variant is twice as transmissible and 50 per cent more deadly, Muhajarine says it could take more than four months to bring down the fourth wave.
“Hopefully that normalcy will be closer to what we had before March 2020,” Muhajarine said.
Muhajarine also notes that modeling shows ICUs could become overrun again in December if the mask mandate and proof of vaccine requirements are lifted too soon.
Third, Muhajarine says modeling shows the risk of being infected, hospitalized or admitted into ICU care greatly increases for those who are unvaccinated compared to those who are vaccinated.
“The risk of being identified as a COVID-19 case is six times more among the unvaccinated compared to being fully vaccinated,” he said.
Unvaccinated people are 13 times more likely to be hospitalized and 28 times more likely to be admitted into the ICU, according to Muhajarine.
“If you’re unvaccinated, I would say you really shouldn’t be mixing with anybody,” Muhajarine said.
Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, recommends residents reduce their number of close contacts and urges people to get vaccinated.
“We can blame lack of public health orders and lack of government action, and that may be true to an extent. But, ultimately it is up to all of us,” Shahab said.
“Even in the presence of public health orders, the level of compliance needs to be extremely high at the household level.”
With files from Allison Bamford
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.