'We have been abandoned': Sask. doctor slams Moe's Quebec comparison
The Omicron COVID-19 variant has been spreading rapidly but Saskatchewan hospitals have not yet felt its full effects.
Over the past two weeks, cases in hospital and intensive care have nearly doubled, with the province reporting 1,000 cases nearly every day.
Cory Neudorf, interim senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, says those numbers will keep climbing.
“We haven't seen the impact of this 1,000 plus cases a day on the system,” said Neudorf.
“Hospitalizations tend to lag cases by about two weeks or so and then ICU admissions lag cases by another week or two.”
Neudorf says the province could eventually lean on other provinces for help like it did during the Delta wave.
“It does seem that way. There is some inevitability to that increasing pressure that's going to come.”
According to Neudorf, Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant but spreads more rapidly. From the information, he has been provided it attacks people's nose and throat and the first part of the bronchus. It's less likely than Delta to cause pneumonia.
Neudorf says health experts are still learning more about Omicron and some people who contract it could have a different experience. He notes that the lower down the virus goes in a person's system, the worse it is for their body. It hits the unvaccinated harder.
Neudorf says the province should consider implementing gathering size limits or cancelling large events.
In a press release, Premier Scott Moe said new restrictions won’t be implemented.
"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."
Infectious disease physician Dr. Alexander Wong says this isn't an accurate comparison.
"We're just a few weeks behind where they are — of course we're not as bad as they are. We're not in the same place in the Omicron wave as they are," he said.
In the release, Moe said his government "sees no clear evidence that lockdown measures have reduced hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in other provinces."
"As a health care provider and as a frontline health care provider, and speaking for many of my colleagues, it is exhausting and completely disappointing to feel that we have been abandoned this way by our elected officials," said Wong.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.