Saskatchewan Prime Minister Says Province May Have Acted Sooner on Renewed COVID-19 Rules | The Canadian News

On the day Saskatchewan asked the federal government for help in dealing with the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Prime Minister Scott Moe conceded that the province could have acted earlier with a renewed mask mandate or proof-of-vaccination policy. .

Health officials also announced that six intensive care patients would be sent to Ontario to relieve overwhelmed staff. The first patient was due to go to Ottawa on Monday and another five were to be sent to Ontario on Wednesday.

The province said each patient’s transfer would cost at least $ 20,000 and that the government would also pay for two family members to go with each patient.

“This is being done to ensure that they continue to receive the best possible care available,” Moe said at a news conference.

When asked about his handling of the fourth wave of the pandemic, Moe said: “Potentially, we could have moved a week earlier with a mask mandate, or even earlier with the vaccination policy that we put in place.”

Masks in closed public places were returned on September 17 and proof of vaccination became necessary on October 1 to enter ticketed restaurants, bars, cinemas, gyms, concert halls and sporting events.

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office confirmed that it had received and was reviewing a formal request for assistance from the Saskatchewan Party government.

There were 124 people in the province’s intensive care units on Monday, 157 percent of normal capacity.

Saskatchewan has been without hospital space and staff for several weeks. Elective and urgent surgeries were canceled and the province suspended its organ donation program.

Approximately 175 healthcare workers have been reassigned to ICUs throughout the province.

“Our teams are under significant stress and have been in that condition for several weeks,” said Derek Miller, executive director of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

“It is very stressful for our front-line teams to be able to withstand this level of increase during this period of time, and that is an important factor moving forward.”

Marlo Pritchard, who is in charge of the emergency operations center, said the province reached out to health care jurisdictions across North America asking if staff would be available to come to Saskatchewan.

“We made requests looking for those skilled people, and when they ended up unable to provide the resources we expected, we now contacted the federal government this morning,” he said.

Moe had turned down assistance from the federal government, which initially offered to help Saskatchewan with its fourth wave in late September. The prime minister said at the time that Ottawa could probably provide enough staff for two ICU beds and that his province was being realistic about Ottawa’s limited resources.

On Monday, it said it got that number based on “taking essentially per capita from what (the federal government) sent to Alberta.”

Ottawa sent eight military intensive care nurses to Edmonton earlier this month.

Pritchard said it is unknown how many intensive care staff Ottawa could send to Saskatchewan via the Canadian Red Cross and the military. Health Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dr. Michael Warner, clinical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, said Ontario has enough resources to help Saskatchewan.

“If we don’t get patients out, other patients who end up in the Saskatchewan hospital might not get the care they need.”

Saskatchewan’s population is smaller than some areas in Toronto, yet its current rate of hospitalizations is worse than Ontario has ever experienced, Warner said.

Saskatchewan reported a record 85 COVID-19 patients in the ICU on Monday, the equivalent of 1,061 in Ontario, Warner said.

“At our peak in Wave 3, we only had 891 COVID-19 patients in our ICUs … I really don’t know how Saskatchewan can cope.”

On July 11, Saskatchewan removed all public health orders, including the self-isolation requirement upon receiving a positive COVID-19 test. Warner said the removal of the restrictions played a role in the province’s fourth wave.

For a month, health workers and the Saskatchewan Opposition called on the province to accept federal aid to ease pressure and avoid sending patients for treatment.

“This was completely avoidable,” said NDP leader Ryan Meili.

“Just one more test of a prime minister refusing to take any responsibility for his own failures and his own actions.”

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