Sask. doctor, NDP say the province's new COVID-19 measures don't go far enough

REGINA -

The Saskatchewan government introduced new public health measures on Friday aimed at protecting the health care system’s capacity amid surging COVID-19 cases, but some are saying the new orders don’t go far enough to quell the fourth wave sweeping the province.

The province reinstated a self-isolation order for COVID-19 positive residents and will be reducing some health care services to attempt to lessen the stress on the system. 

The same day, the province confirmed 432 new cases of COVID-19 – the second highest number on record and highest number in 2021.

Dr. Alexander Wong, an infectious disease physician in Regina, said the new measures are disappointing.

“There’s a need for additional restrictions and mandates to be put in place to try and protect our health system,” said Dr. Wong.

“If we don’t have critical care capacity and you need it…you might not live. That’s the reality of where we’ve at right now.”

Dr. Wong said residents just have to look over the border to Manitoba to see the impact of public health restrictions like a universal mask mandate and a slightly higher vaccine uptake.

As of Friday, there are 75 COVID-19 patients in Manitoba hospitals and 539 active cases – compared to Saskatchewan’s 3,573.

Dr. Wong acknowledged Manitoba had a horrific surge of the virus in in May. Hospitalized patients were sent out of province to Ontario and Saskatchewan at that time, but Dr. Wong said Manitoba might have to soon return the favour to its western neighbours.

Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili, who is also a family doctor, said health care workers across the province are exhausted and the new restrictions aren’t enough to bring any relief.

“We have no serious public health orders in place, and today that didn’t change,” said Meili.

During a press conference Friday, Premier Scott Moe defended the new restrictions and stood by the province’s vaccine-based strategy.

“We know that these are only interim measures that will increase out healthcare capacity in the short term, so we must continue to focus our efforts on increasing the efficacy, the availability and the uptake of vaccines,” Moe said.

“Some of you may be wondering why I'm not imposing broad restrictions and mandates here today and I said before restrictions are a stopgap measure. They were always intended to be temporary, and they were to get us to a point where vaccines are largely available and accessible and they are today.”

Both Meili and Dr. Wong said the province should implement all of the terms laid out in letter doctors wrote to provincial leaders two weeks ago.

The letter, which was written on behalf of provincial medical health officers, recommended a universal mask mandate and proof of immunization requirements for non-essential services, along with several other suggestions to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“[Scott Moe] chose to give up on healthcare workers and ignore their advice,” said Meili.

“We’re doing the worst and this premier is choosing to do the least in response.”

Dr. Wong said he will keep pushing for more restrictions to avoid getting to a place where doctors are forced to triage patients and make life and death decisions.

“I'm not going to sit and speculate as to what the motivations are for these decisions, or lack of decision, that are being made. There's clearly some political component here, which I probably will never understand,” Dr. Wong said.

“But that doesn't change the reality that I think that we have to continue to push for what we believe and what we know is right, and to just allow, willingly, people to suffer and die is not acceptable.”

With files from CTV News Regina's Alison MacKinnon