Saskatoon protest calls on province to reconsider ending COVID-19 restrictions, base decision on expert advice

A group of protesters in Saskatoon calledon the provincial government Saturdayto reconsiderits decision toendCOVID-19 restrictions by putting politics aside and emphasizing guidance from medical experts.

The province announced on Tuesday that the vaccine mandate will end on Monday and all other COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted when the current public health order expires on Feb. 28.

Saskatchewan officials have said it's part of a plan to start treating COVID-19 like other communicable diseases.

"We want things to be as normal as they possibly can," Premier Scott Moe said during the announcement.

In response to the decision, a protest was held on Saturday afternoon at Health Minister Paul Merriman's constituency office in Saskatoon.

Joel Hill, an organizer for the protest, said he and other attendees believe the provincial government made thedecisionbased on politics instead of science.

The province's decision was made as convoy protests were takingplace and continue to take place across the country that are calling for an end to all COVID-19 mandates. Moe has voiced support for the protests, as long as they remain peaceful and don't impede on the rights of others.

"Stop pandering to the fringe minority and start listening to the medical experts, start listening to the people in the room that understand the virus and know what we need to do to combat it," Hill told CBC News.

"It's as simple as that. It shouldn't be a matter of politics. It's a matter of public health. That's a non-partisan issue."

As of Wednesday, the most recent information available, there was a record-tying 384 patients in hospital with COVID-19, while 22 deaths were recorded between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5.

A presentation delivered on Thursday during a Saskatchewan Health Authority town hall said "Hospitals are now caring for the highest number of people with COVID-19. Admissions are at highest levels across all age groups. ICU occupancy continues to be high."

It also said staffing in hospitals remains critical "due to unplanned absenteeism."

Dr. Holinaty, a family physician in Saskatoon, told CBC News on Friday that given the current situation, she doesn't believe the province can safely relax restrictions.

The protest also calledfor PCR tests and COVID-19 data to be made available to the public again.

Last week, the province announced that PCR tests will only be available by appointment and for people who are considered "high priority."

Public health also discontinued its daily dashboard updates, which included case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths, among other COVID-19 data.

Instead, the province has started to issue weekly COVID-19 epidemiological reports on Thursdays.

"We see PCR testing as public health and we're in Canada. We have a right to public health and so we should have a right to those PCR tests," said Hill.

"We should also have a right to know how many people are infected with COVID-19. We should be able to have the tools to assess risk and to make decisions for ourselves, and we can't do that right now if we're flying blind."

However, Hill isn't optimistic that the province will heed the calls.

Instead, Hill said he hopes people in Saskatchewan will startpressuring the government to put politics aside and reconsider ending COVID-19 restrictions basedon recommendations from medical experts.

"We have over 40 [Saskatchewan Party]MLAs, and most of them have been completely silent throughout the pandemic," he said.

"I think that's unacceptable. They're supposed to be representing us and standing up for the public and standing up for public health, and they're not."