When the novel coronavirus began to settle into it's usual and predictable rhythm of exponential infection in North America, officials all over the continent pleaded for caution and attention in order to slow the spread.
'Flatten the Curve,' they called it.
The idea being that even if there are an inevitable large number of COVID-19 cases, if they're spread over a long enough time period, health facilities and officials would have time and be better equipped to save lives as opposed to being hit with a mass of cases all at once.
The horror show of hospitals wall-to-wall with patients in Wuhan and videos of nurses and doctors barely maintaining their sanity in the face of such pressure were the last thing anyone wanted to see repeated.
As it turns out, Saskatchewan has listened.
With Premier Scott Moe and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab providing daily updates on the spread of COVID-19, urging people to be safe in public and installing measures to make sure that happens, the number of new cases showing up has slowed to a near trickle.
Only four new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the province's total to 253 overall.
That number is impressive: on a cases-per-million population basis, it would put Saskatchewan among the top five of all states in the United States, and the three deaths would put the province in third for the least overall and fewest per million.
So the simple stats bear out the government's plan is working in Saskatchewan.
Then there's the full-on effect, which can most definitely be felt in Moose Jaw.
Anyone who has left their homes for brief trips to the store for supplies to simply get some fresh air has seen it – roads almost clear of cars, only small groups of families and friends out for walks, and when you do go into a store, there's no complaint as people observe the guidelines.
A trip from South Hill to Sunningdale recently brought the strangest of sites: driving across the Ninth Avenue bridge in broad daylight, looking north on Ninth Avenue up to Caribou, and not seeing a single vehicle on the road.
Of course, a major part of that is, well, there's nothing to do. Everything entertainment-wise is shuttered, as are most non-essential stores. Gyms, work-out facilities and all the like? Same.
All part of keeping people indoors, away from gatherings and again, listening.
What it all comes down to is this: Moose Jaw, and the province as a whole, might be able to escape this horrific pandemic largely unscathed compared to what's coming everywhere else if we keep doing what we're doing.
It would be a miracle akin to a prairie fire burning down everything except the farmstead it was bearing down on, simply because the farmer knew what to do to save his family and did just that.
So, be proud of yourselves Moose Jaw.
Know that this isn't over, we've won a few battles, but the war is going to rage for another two months, at least, and possibly well into summer.
But we've shown we can win.
And that's all that matters in a time like this.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
