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Public health officer warns that potential holiday precautions have to be 'cautious'

Chief medial officer Dr. Saqib Shahab is warning residents that current public health orders are likely to stay put over Christmas
Moe Shahib CP press conference
Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, right, speaks while Scott Moe, premier of Saskatchewan, looks on at a COVID-19 news update at the Legislative Building in Regina. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell)

Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said that residents may have to brace themselves for a subdued holiday season, as COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations continue to trend upwards and cause concern.

“At this point, it is hard to say if any of the restrictions can be relaxed,” said Shahab. “But whatever plans for the holidays, we have to recognize that it's very different from last year and very different even from Thanksgiving.”

Speaking during a live press conference with Health Minister Paul Merriman and Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone on Dec. 2, Shahab said that Saskatchewan’s case numbers would have to decrease substantially to consider lifting the current public health orders over Christmas.

Per 100,000 population, Saskatchewan currently has the third-highest number of active cases and third highest number of new cases per day in Canada, said Shahab. 

Transmission is currently occurring all over the province, with no discernable hotspots, and there has now been 53 deaths — 28 since the beginning of November. 

A large portion of COVID-related hospitalizations are patients in the 40 and older age group, while the death rate is currently at seven per cent for those over 18 years old and two per cent for the 60 to 79-year-old age group.

Close contacts per case have decreased slightly from last week, but Shahab said they need to decrease even further moving forward.

“It is critical we follow the guidelines, keep the numbers low overall, and protect the most vulnerable in terms of age but also those with underlying health risk factors,” said Shahab.

The current projection data from the SHA expects the province’s numbers to continue trending upwards, making it difficult for public health to say whether the current restrictions will be lifted over the holidays.

“Even if there is relaxation [for the holidays], it will have to be very cautious relaxation,” said Shahab.

Shahab said residents should continue to be cautious and follow the current public health orders in place. He also indicated that residents should be prepared to do so throughout December and possibly into January to properly avoid a “rebound” of high case numbers in the next few months.

“We don't want to bend the rules, we want to bend the curve and follow public health orders,” said Shahab. “The school break is another opportunity for us to slow things down, to stabilize our numbers, so that we can go back to school in January with less pressure, less cases per day.”

It takes about three weeks to see the effects of new restrictive measures on the data, said Shahab, and the current restrictions in place need to remain for a while longer before he can speak to their effectiveness.

“We need to consistently practice all the measures, so we can see next week if we really are trending in a downward direction,” said Shahab.

He also noted that it's likely that public health will continue to uphold at least some of its current orders until vaccination is on the horizon. 

Merriman noted that several vaccines have applied for approval in the last week, and the SHA will be providing more information on the plan to roll out vaccines later next week.

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