The latest COVID-19 weekly report in Saskatchewan shows the amount of new cases has decreased in recent days, however the number of COVID-related deaths has increased.
Saskatchewan dropped its mask mandate three weeks ago and since then other provinces have loosened their own COVID-19 measures.
But Thursday’s Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) physician town hall revealed that the province’s mortality rate has surged from 2.3 to 4.7 per 100,000 people in the last two weeks.
Saskatchewan also has the highest death rate among the provinces.
Retired physician and health policy consultant Dr. Dennis Kendel noted the purpose of town hall meeting is to be informative.
“There’s no sensationalism. There’s no inclination to hype any particular message, it’s simply factual information about what’s going on.”
Kendel said he’s been carefully following the response of elected leaders to COVID-19 and he’s seen other premiers express empathy with families who have lost loved ones to the virus.
“In Saskatchewan we seem to almost have come to accept this high mortality as just not alarming at all. I think that’s sad because quite frankly, a lot of people have lost loved ones prematurely from COVID.”
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Kendel thinks the provincial government pulled health measures prematurely.
While he has little hope officials will bring back measures, he encourages people to keep wearing masks and continue testing.
One presenter at the town hall, Dr. Johnmark Opondo said there is potential for a surge in cases in the fall due to waning immunity and emerging new COVID-19 variants.
Opondo also stated there is a high bed occupancy in Saskatoon medicine units. There is also an ongoing demand throughout the SHA health care system to accommodate COVID patients in the near and distant future.
Kendel said people don’t often understand how this can be a challenge.
“It means that people are in hallways. People are not optimally located within the hospital. Many are stuck down in the emergency department,” Kendel said.
Along with continuing to take protective measures like masking and regular testing, Kendel also encouraged others to stay home if they are symptomatic.
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