The daily counts of new COVID-19 cases have typically fallen across the country in recent weeks and the Saskatchewan government is regularly reporting fewer than 200 new infections per day.
However, a doctor warns those falling numbers could trigger the next wave of the pandemic.
“We can naturally start to become complacent,” Dr. Joseph Blondeau said, stating that the lower numbers may cause people to be less diligent in maintaining physical distance or wearing a mask.
“In fact, that is probably the biggest danger.”
Blondeau is the head of clinical microbiology at Royal University Hospital at USask, as well as the provincial lead for clinical microbiologists with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
He said the relatively lower case numbers likely show that public health measures have been working and urged everyone to stay vigilant.
He said the severity of the third wave, just like that of the second, depends on how people behave.
A complicated and potentially more deadly factor in the mix is the new variants of COVID-19.
But right now they’re hard to spot.
Saskatchewan doesn’t have the same capacity to test for them as it does for the regular strain and the results can take several weeks.
In addition, health authorities don’t know much about them because the variants are so new.
That, said Blondeau, shows a nationwide weakness that needs to be remedied.
But, as of Friday, the provincial government has only detected the strain first discovered in the U.K. in three Saskatchewan residents.
With hundreds of variant cases across the country, Blondeau said that could mean Saskatchewan is lucky — or that the third wave is still cresting.
Speaking to Global News, he said the best way to avoid getting and spreading the virus “is to stay away from people who are outside of your immediate households,” and to follow other health guidelines.