Sask. to release COVID-19 modelling data soon: health minister
Saskatchewan residents will be able to see the province's COVID-19 modelling data "probably within the week," according to Health Minister Paul Merriman.
Merriman made the pledge in a media availability in Saskatoon on Thursday.
In a physician town hall on Sept. 23, Dr. Susan Shaw, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s chief medical officer, said the modelling data is available but is not being widely shared with doctors across the province as per a decision by the Ministry of Health.
At the time, the health ministry did not respond to a request for comment from CTV News.
Merriman said Thursday that modelling is one tool to be able look forward, but it doesn't take all factors into account, such as increased vaccination rates and the fact that 20 per cent of cases are under the age of 20 and there's a low risk of them ending up in hospital.
"So the modeling looks at one scenario of 'this is what could happen if nothing changed from now until a month from now,' so it's not the most accurate,” he said.
"We've seen in the past that the modeling hasn't been extremely accurate in everything that we're doing. They were projecting at the end of August that there was going to be six, seven hundred cases a day, that didn't happen.”
He said he had "no issue" with the modelling being released and provided to media, but in the context that it is a forecast and is not going to be "concrete."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'