Province cautions against being over confident despite low COVID-19 numbers
While there are significant positive signs in Saskatchewan’s efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, rising numbers in other jurisdictions show how quickly the virus can spread.
During media availability opportunities this past week, Saskatchewan unveiled a series of openings as part of Re-open Saskatchewan Phase 4.2. Effective on Monday, June 29, the province allowed for the re-opening of libraries, museums, galleries, movie theatres and live theatres. Other re-opening dates in this phase will be announced over the coming weeks, allowing for activity to resume at indoor rinks, indoor sports and activities, plus casinos and bingo halls.
The province has also announced that starting this past Friday, parks and campgrounds can be opened at 100 per cent capacity for overnight stays and limited-term campsites.
“Our goal continues to be, as it always has been, to re-open as quickly as possible while doing so as safely as possible. I’m very happy to be making these re-opening announcements here today, but I will be much happier when everything is re-opened and I’m able to quit making these re-opening announcements,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said this past week.
Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said aside from outbreaks in the Northeast and Southwest, Saskatchewan’s numbers have allowed for a cautions re-opening approach.
“It has been a fair, systematic approach, and we just need to be aware that it is going forward in a new normal not business as usual,” Dr. Shahab said.
“We had low overall transmission,” he explained. “We have not high testing rates but fair testing rates throughout the province. We have low test positivity rates, very low in most of the province except in the two outbreak clusters. And we obviously have very low hospitalizations and ICU admissions. And thankfully, while 13 deaths is 13 deaths too many, we have low number of deaths. So all that shows that our COVID transmission is not zero, we can never assume it’s zero as long as there’s a global pandemic, but it is very low. So I think that would have mitigated any intense transmission events through mass gatherings.”
Dr. Shahab pointed out many of the new COVID19 cases now are secondary household cases. He explained the following a mass gathering or transmission event, you do see secondary cases or chains of transmission due to household contact for a few weeks.
“In the Southwest there’s ongoing active case finding that results in more cases identified due to active case finding, going door to door, working with community leadership to enhance testing and make testing easily available. It’s a good thing that we’re finding as many cases as we need to just make sure that cases are isolated for the two weeks, many of them will make a recovery at home. Those who require hospitalization obviously will be hospitalized, and close contacts will also be asked to isolate at home for two weeks. And once they are asymptomatic they can then continue with their activities.”
Premier Moe said during a June 25 media availability that all remaining re-opening dates will be announced this week.
As of last Thursday, excluding the localized outbreaks in the Northeast and the Southwest, there were just 12 active cases across the rest of the province.
“With the low case numbers throughout most of Saskatchewan, I know people are asking why can’t we just reopen everything right now. Why can’t we just remove all of the restrictions and the guidelines and get everything back to normal.”
“Well trust me when I say I would like to do that as much as anyone. But it is just not realistic, because the risk of the spread of COVID-19 has not disappeared. We can re-open, but we know how quickly this virus can spread if we stop following all of the good practices that have worked for us so far.”
He points to lessons learned by the COVID-19 numbers South of border, with new case numbers spiking to record highs in places like Florida, Arizona and Texas.
“And that’s what can happen and it can happen very quickly if we are not careful.”
“It’s great that things here are getting more or less back to normal. Businesses are open. More people are back at work each and every day. We can go to the beach. We can go to the park and the playground. We can visit our kids and our kids can