Sask. experience shows COVID-19 restrictions work, expert says
A public health expert says Saskatchewan's own experience shows how public health restrictions can halt the spread of COVID-19.
"It's well known that if you can restrict exposure of your population to a particular disease like COVID, you'll see fewer cases," said Michael Szafron, associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe claimed this week that Quebec's COVID-19 measures have failed to reduce COVID-19 rates in Quebec, and so his government will not introduce more restrictions.
"Saskatchewan's rate of COVID-19 related deaths in January is the lowest of any province and 90 per cent below the national rate of 4.8 per 100,000 population. It is worth noting that Quebec, with the most severe lockdown measures in Canada, has the highest COVID-19 fatality rate in Canada in January and one of the highest current rates in the world," he said in a news release.
He also said his government "sees no clear evidence that lockdown measures have reduced hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in other provinces."
However, Szafron said that while a causal relationship can't be drawn between the Omicron restrictions Quebec introduced on New Year's Eve and the decline in cases seen a few days later, they are definitely related.
Without being able to control all variables it's difficult to get conclusive evidence - but in Saskatchewan, there has been a high correlation between public health measures and decreases in case counts, he said.
"If it happened, once, you know, then maybe it was random, right? If it happened after two times, well, it could be random. Three times, the chance of it being random and not connected, much less. Four times, getting an even lower degree of probability. And, of course, we haven't hit our peak yet in Saskatchewan. And this time, no new measures have been put in place."
Instead, Saskatchewan will rely on the efficacy of vaccinations, people being good citizens, and current masking and proof of vaccination orders to bring the case count down, he said.
"We're going to allow COVID to spread with very little impedance."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.