Moe `hopeful' visit rules can ease over holidays
But relaxation for both private homes, nursing homes hinges on case numbers
Premier Scott Moe again held out hope that COVID-19 restrictions could be pared back for Christmas, potentially allowing families to briefly visit relatives in care homes if cases wane.
“Is it my place to provide hope, to provide opportunity, to provide some targets for the people across the province to work toward between now and December the 25th? I think it is,” the premier said Tuesday.
That comes one day after Moe suggested that gathering limits “might be relaxed so that we could have a few people in our home for Christmas.”
That decision will come around Dec. 17, he said, when chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab is set to re-examine public health orders that limit private gatherings to five people.
The same order suspended most visits to care long-term care and personal care homes. Moe said Tuesday that too might be on the table as Shahab makes his recommendations.
“If he said that we are unable to relax any family visitations for even two or three days over Christmas, then we will be unable to do that,” Moe explained. “If he says for three days, we might be able to have the opportunity to, for instance, see a loved one in a longterm care home, then we will look at that very seriously as well.”
That's despite modelling scenarios that suggest high case numbers well into December. A presentation to physicians from last week put daily cases around 400 over the holiday season — in the most optimistic scenario.
But Moe said modelling isn't a prediction of the future, but a decision-making tool. He argued that Saskatchewan people deserve something to look forward to, if possible, after so many hard, lonely months.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili argued that the premier is misleading people by holding out false hope. He said Moe could have saved Christmas by listening to the advice of doctors who called for stricter restrictions as a “circuit breaker” weeks ago.
“That's what would have saved Christmas,” said Meili. “I think trying to spin people a story that somehow we'll be opening up for Christmas at the same time as we're really going to be opening field hospitals is dishonest.”
Moe appeared to hedge when asked if he could commit to doing exactly what Dr. Saqib Shahab recommends for the Christmas season. He said he and Shahab are part of a team that also consults with the business community.
“Dr. Shahab has provided very good advice,” Moe said. “He's also taken very good input from responses that we've had through the business response team, for example, his office is very plugged into the advice that has been provided from people across the province.”
For Moe, it's not as simple as saying “it's this decision from Dr. Shahab's office and this decision from the government.” The two are intertwined.
“It's much more of a mutual conversation with many other people as part of that conversation to come to where we need to be as a province,” said Moe.
“Ultimately, Dr. Shahab has been the lead on providing that advice for the province. That is going to continue into the future.”