REGINA — Opposition leader Ryan Meili responded to the province’s COVID-19 data update, shared earlier in the afternoon, with a challenge to both Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman.
Meili spoke during an online press conference on Dec. 28, responding to the release of four days’ worth of data regarding COVID-19 cases in the province released earlier that afternoon.
The provincial COVID-19 dashboard was updated for the first time since Dec. 23, due to the holidays, sharing information regarding new cases in Saskatchewan. Provincial officials did not make any public appearances to speak about the data shared.
“It’s strange that I’m the first person talking to [the public] about this,” said Meili. “We knew this was coming [and] Scott Moe decided to lay down on the job again, instead of doing the work and protecting Saskatchewan.”
Meili said that Moe and Merriman’s lack of appearance to talk about COVID-19 planning today as “irresponsible and disrespectful to the people of Saskatchewan.”
“In two or three weeks, our hospitals will start to fill up as a result of this increase in cases,” said Meili. “The people who have the information and power to change things are taking a couple more days of holiday before they dust off any type of plan to address Omicron.”
The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on action from the provincial government to release their plan to address rising transmission and the spread of the Omicron variant, with a deadline of this week.
“At this time, it is absolutely essential that Scott Moe come out today, tomorrow at the absolute latest, and tell us what the plan is,” said Meili.
Case numbers increased by 908 over the holiday weekend, with active cases nearly doubling since last week’s final update on Dec. 23.
Meili said that province-wide gathering restrictions should have been in place prior to the Christmas holiday, and provincial officials should now be stepping in before New Years to do so.
“We’re seeing numbers rise already as a result of failing to get ahead of this,” said Meili. “We are once again calling on this government to respond to the reality of the virus we’re facing.”
Meili also added that messaging regarding the Omicron variant producing milder symptoms and lower hospitalizations shouldn’t mean less precautions are needed.
Higher case numbers will still result in more hospitalizations due to density, said Meili, and the provincial health system is still not prepared for another surge in patients.
Omicron case data from other jurisdictions is also seeing an increased risk of infection in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals, said Meili, which should be concerning as Saskatchewan still has the lowest rate of vaccination in the country.
“We’re at 12 per cent test positivity. We’ve got 900 new cases in four days alone. That is really fast growth,” said Meili. “We need to take the spread and the infectivity as seriously as we do the severity.”
The opposition leader encouraged Saskatchewan residents and businesses to continue practicing caution of their own volition, including using rapid tests and limiting gathering sizes, especially as New Years approaches.
“Frankly, I don’t think we should be having large events at full capacity, and anything over 50 per cent capacity even is very dangerous,” said Meili.
