Sask. government resists Opposition calls for daily COVID reporting, says public not requesting it

The Saskatchewan government's response to COVID-19 has been shifting sincethe removal of public health measures on Feb. 28, and one event this week highlighted the change in direction.

Premier Scott Moe stood in front of an indoor crowd of more than 1,000 for the first time in two years on Wednesday, to address the annual Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) convention in Regina, which was held in person for the first time since March 2020.

"Folks, in no way are we claiming that COVID is going away," Moe said."It's not, it's going to be with us for a while and we need to be aware of that. We need to manage the risk of COVID, but we need to do so at an individual level.

"So today in Saskatchewan we are getting our lives back to normal. We have zero COVID protocols," he said, adding that the move was long overdue. "That's all I have to say about COVID today."

The government's mask mandate was dropped on March 1, and the vast majority of the crowd was not wearing a mask.

Moe received a round of applause before moving on to talk about export and job opportunities in the province.

The lack of appetite for COVID discussion was on display during the 90-minute "bear pit" session in which SARM delegates have a chance to ask any cabinet minister a question.

Health Minister Paul Merriman did not receive a question for the duration of the session.

"With respect to no questions for the health minister it shows that people at this convention and across the province understand COVID and have the tools available to manage COVID at a personal level," Moe said afterwards.

Opposition wants daily COVID numbers

Opposition Leader Ryan Meili and health critic Vicki Mowat have spent the first two weeks of the sitting calling for a return to daily COVID reporting and asking Health Minister Merriman for daily hospitalization and ICU data.

The government moved to weekly COVID reports in early February.

Meili and Mowat have argued the public should know on a more frequent basis how the virus is affecting the community and the health-care system.

Following question period on Thursday morning, Health Minister Merriman said he had not seen the weekly COVID report, which usually is released after 1 p.m. every Thursday.

"The information's being tallied, it's being shared. It's just deceitfully being hidden," Meili said. "This is how it works. The idea that he is somehow covering his eyes and not getting this information, it's just not real."

Meili said the daily reports are crucial given how COVID-19 cases have trended back up in Europe and Asia, due to the BA.2 variant.

The BA.2 variant accounts for less than 6 per cent of lab-confirmed cases in Saskatchewan, according to the province's most recent numbers.

"The truth is, we're seeing issues in other countries. Rising cases, if we're seeing rising hospitalizations, that is something we should take very seriously," Meili said.

Sask. COVID death rate surges in last 2 weeks

According to Thursday's report, hospitalizations dropped below 300 for the first time in weeks to 299, down 40 from the previous week.

Deaths increased from 13 to 28 between reporting periods, however, six of those were cases of people who died in previous weeks.

According to Thursday's Saskatchewan Health Authority physician's town hall, the COVID mortality rate surged in the last two weeks to 4.7 per 100,000, making it the highest among the provinces.

Meili said if Saskatchewan sees a surge in cases or hospitalizations, people will be late to react given restrictions on provincialPCR testing and regularly available data.

"The earlier people are able to see those changes happening, the better they are able to do what this government's asked us to do, which is make our own choices and keep ourselves safe" he said, adding limiting testing and information puts people's lives at risk.

Saskatchewan was the first province to move to weekly reporting. Recently, Nova Scotia has followed suit and Alberta announced,this week, it too would make the move.

Speaking of the SARM convention, Health Minister Merriman defended the change.

"There were over 1,000 people, not one person in the bear pit or the two-hour dialogue session we had after that were asking for COVID numbers on a daily basis. They weren't even talking about COVID numbers, which is a good indication that people in Saskatchewan are learning to live with COVID," Merriman said.

The weekly report is more detailed than the daily updates and he saidthe government is reminding peopleCOVID is still in the community and that theyshould use rapid tests and getvaccinated.

"I understand the Leader of the Opposition wants all of that information, but what I'm seeing and hearing from the people in Saskatchewan is that they're content with getting the weekly numbers if they're even paying attention to them."

Meili questioned Merriman on the minister's repeated insistence that he only sees the COVID-19 data just before it is released once per week.

On Thursday, Merriman told reporters he could not comment on the weekly COVID report because he had not seen it yet.He also said his office and caucus colleagues have not flaggedweekly reporting as an issue.

"I'm just not hearing a lot of communication coming into my office or from the MLAs thatpeople need daily numbers. They seem to be very satisfied with the weekly numbers."

Merriman said he had not met with Dr. Saqib Shahab, the chief medical health officer, this week, but that he did speak with Shahab's deputy.

He also said he had not met with the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), which has handled the coordination of COVID resources and held press conferences in recent months.

Merriman and Moe have said PEOC's role is winding down.

Merriman acknowledged that high COVID-related hospitalizations continue to put pressure on Saskatoon and Regina hospitals, with some units in Saskatoon well over 100 per cent capacity.

"We're trying not to overload Saskatoon," Merriman said, noting Saskatchewanhas not had to move patients out of province as it did in the fall of 2021.

Theoverall provincial capacity is 91 per cent, he said.

LISTEN | Political panel talksabout Premier Scott Moe's address: