Behaviour leading to outbreaks a stain on city

Saskatoon sure looks like it's a got a drinking problem.

Twelve COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at Saskatoon bars and restaurants so far in 2021, double the number in the rest of the province combined.

The criteria for declaring an outbreak — two or more cases in a space other than a household — means they'll happen in lots of settings, and that's what we've seen throughout the pandemic.

But the outbreak numbers in bars and restaurants stand out, considering Saskatoon represents just under a quarter of Saskatchewan's population.

Among these outbreaks, four have prompted the Saskatchewan Health Authority to issue a warning about increased threat of infection since Jan. 1. Those four remain the only ones issued by the SHA for a bar or restaurant so far this year.

An outbreak at Crackers Restaurant and Karaoke Bar that covered a period from before Christmas to after New Year's Day was linked to 104 cases — 52 among patrons and staff, and 52 secondary cases.

Crackers was also named publicly as one of five bars in Saskatchewan to receive a $14,000 ticket for alleged violations of COVID-19 restrictions. Four of those establishments are located in Saskatoon, compared to just one in Regina.

Most recently, Specklebelly's Brew Pub in the Sutherland neighbourhood got a $14,000 ticket for alleged violations on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7).

Sutherland appears to have been a hot spot, with three outbreaks declared within a week at area bars in January, including one at Specklebelly's.

So it appears Saskatoon is flouting COVID-19 rules at bars and restaurants at a higher rate than the rest of the province.

But it could well be that enforcement is enhanced in Saskatoon, too.

When the Specklebelly's fine was announced, the province revealed that 18 establishments were inspected in Saskatoon and Regina on Super Bowl Sunday.

What about spots in Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton or North Battleford? Were they inspected on the same day?

Violations can only be discovered in locations where inspections are conducted. The province's information suggests most establishments were complying with the rules, if only one out of 18 got a ticket.

Specklebelly's joined fellow Saskatoon bars Crazy Cactus, Crackers, Bud's on Broadway and Mr. D's Stats Cocktails and Dreams in Regina as suffering both the financial sting of a $14,000 ticket and being named (shamed) publicly.

The owners of Bud's and Stats have both publicly stated they intend to fight their fines in court. They tell remarkably similar stories about visits from public health inspectors that led them to believe they were complying with the rules, only to receive a ticket during a subsequent visit.

There's little doubt that the owners of restaurants and bars in Saskatchewan have faced more severe restrictions than other businesses — although they faced more substantial limits, including shutdowns, elsewhere in Canada.

Some bar/restaurant owners feel they face a more onerous responsibility to enforce public health orders, but a counter argument would likely stress the nature of the establishments as gathering spaces where people tend to linger.

That's a better environment for a virus to spread, even if big-box stores may host more people.

Still, the number of Saskatoon bar/restaurant outbreaks remains a concern.

The Saskatoon zone leads the province in total diagnosed COVID-19 cases (7,235, about 26 per cent of provincial cases) and total tests (156,458, about 28 per cent of all tests in Saskatchewan).

The Saskatoon zone includes several other communities in the region and a total of 387,964 people, about a third of the province's population.

So you can't really rely on population, testing and case rates to explain the outbreaks at restaurants and bars, which should be about a third of those in the province with all else being equal.

You're left with bad behaviour to explain this embarrassing stain.