Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe re-iterated his stance on additional COVID-19 restrictions, in that there won’t be any implemented.
In a statement, Premier Moe said Saskatchewan’s current rate of hospitalizations is 18.2 per 100,000 population, 34 per cent below the national rate of 27.5 and the province’s current rate of ICU admissions is 1.9 per 100,000 population, 39 per cent below the national rate of 3.1.
“While modelling is one source of information our government considers, we are placing greater emphasis on closely tracking actual real-time data from across Canada to inform our COVID-19 response. Saskatchewan’s current rates of COVID-19 related hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths are currently well below the national average and well below other provinces that have introduced severe restrictions”
Moe acknowledges that hospitalizations are rising provincially – but refutes evidence that lockdowns and restrictions have any effect on hospitalizations, ICU admittance or deaths from COVID-19.
“The government recognizes that hospitalizations are rising and will continue to rise for some period of time. However, we see no clear evidence that lockdown measures have reduced hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths ”
The premier calls additional restrictions “harmful” and states that the government sees no reason to implement anything further at this time.
This comes after five unions and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation called on the SaskParty government to implement further restrictions to help combat the Omicron fueled wave.
As of today (Thurs), there are 215 hospitalizations, including 23 in intensive care.
(With files from CKRM and CJWW)
