Doctor calls for travel restrictions

Doctor says it's vital with P1 variant cases detected in Manitoba, Alberta

As Saskatchewan grapples with the more transmissible U.K. variant of the coronavirus, an epidemiologist is worried to see an even scarier form right on Saskatchewan's frontiers.

Hundreds of cases of P1 variant, first detected in Brazil, have turned up in British Columbia, and the same variant has also affected Alberta and Manitoba. No cases have yet been identified in Saskatchewan, but Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, a professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine, thinks the province needs to do more to keep it that way.

“We really need to be looking at controlling our borders,” he said. “I'm sorry to say that, because we value our mobility; we value being able to move around. But P1 has to come from somewhere.

“We really need to keep P1 out of our province, as much as possible,” Muhajarine added. “So the travel between provinces will be a real key thing here.”

He said the provincial government could follow the lead of the Atlantic provinces or Manitoba and impose a 14-day quarantine for travellers coming from elsewhere in Canada. Currently, that only exists for international travellers into Saskatchewan. Muhajarine sees a good argument for extending it to those crossing provincial borders.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said the government has always discouraged unnecessary travel, though he didn't commit to making any changes in light of the P1 threat.

“It's important to keep an eye on this,” he acknowledged. “Logistically, it would be a challenge to close the provincial border to Alberta, but we're again discouraging people from making any unnecessary travel, in and around the Regina area specifically, but certainly outside the province.”

Merriman said he would have to consult further with chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab on the prospect of a quarantine.

“He hasn't indicated anything to me yet, but we're meeting on a regular basis, so I'm sure it will come up in our discussions now that it's a little closer to home,” Merriman said.

Muhajarine also called for better surveillance to make sure Saskatchewan can catch the variant if and when it arrives, as well as stronger public health measures within the province, given the substantially higher transmissibility of P1.

“What we saw happen on Tuesday this week is just the bare minimum that should have been done,” he said, referring to the province's decision to extend some of Regina's comparatively stringent restrictions across the province, though bars and restaurants are allowed to stay open outside the capital.

According to Muhajarine's review of the evidence, P1 could be about 2.5 times more transmissible than the original form of the coronavirus. He said there's also signs it can reinfect people who had already contracted COVID -19 during earlier waves. That could suggest the virus would be capable of resisting vaccines.

“It might be able to escape or evade the immunity,” said Muhajarine, though he acknowledged that the data are “sparse.”

NDP Leader Ryan Meili said there's really no way to know yet whether P1 has already come to Saskatchewan, given some of the lags in sequencing positive COVID-19 samples for variants.

“We may not have it yet or we may not have found it yet, but it's coming. The way it's spreading across the country, we'll see P1 here, and that's really worrisome,” said Meili.

In his view, Saskatchewan should be examining what other provinces are doing to control the variant, including taking a look at interprovincial travel.