Saskatoon should axe its local COVID-19 mitigation strategy, report says
City of Saskatoon administration is recommending that the city suspend its framework for reducing the local spread of COVID-19.
"The intent of the framework was to assist City Council and Administration in making data-driven decisions on potential measures to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 in Saskatoon, at a time when the province was messaging that municipalities should consider implementing measures over and above provincial measures," says a report to the Governance and Priorities Committee.
"Many circumstances have fundamentally changed since the development and adoption of the framework."
The city had entered critical "red-level" COVID-19 risk status earlier in the month. New measures City Council could consider under that status include:
- declaring a state of emergency
- closing recreation facilities and suspending all programs and services
- not approving outdoor special events and public gatherings on civic property
- banning rentals of city-operated indoor facilities for special events and public gatherings
However, council opted to maintain the status quo during a meeting earlier this month.
The framework was developed during the rise of the Delta variant, which happened after the province had ended all public health orders on July 11, the report says. But then, Saskatchewan implemented new ones including proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test in some settings, mandatory isolation rules and mandatory masking.
"Together, these orders provide a layer of protection that was not in place when the framework was developed and adopted," the report says.
More recently, the province dropped its recommendation that asymptomatic residents who receive a positive COVID-19 result on a rapid test receive a subsequent PCR test to confirm it.
"This change impacts the data for the underlying framework, especially the seven-day average of weekly cases, the test positivity rate, and the seven-day reproduction rate. The use of rapid antigen tests in Saskatchewan has also increased significantly, and the data from these tests are not formally collected and reported at this time. This change fundamentally affected the foundational elements of the framework," the report says.
The emergence of the Omicron variant has also been a complication since the framework was developed.
"The Omicron variant has differences from the Delta variant, some of which would be difficult to translate into a data framework with publicly available data. Further, with the Omicron variant, medical health officers are focusing much more on hospital admissions and capacity, which is not in the current framework.
"As each new variant emerges the framework would require fundamental adjustments based on the transmission and health impact of the new variant."
The Governance and Priorities Committee is to consider the recommendation at its Jan. 24 meeting. If approved, it would go before council on Jan. 31.
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.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
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.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
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.