(Saskatchewan Health Authority)

By Dominick Lucyk/ CKOM News

Doctors call for stronger COVID measures, including closing bars, gyms and more

Nov 16, 2020 | 10:03 AM

Once again, a group of Saskatchewan doctors are calling for stronger measures to control the spread of COVID-19.

Over 300 doctors sent a letter to the provincial government Tuesday, asking officials to look to places like New Zealand and Australia for examples of COVID restrictions.

Now, 410 doctors have sent another letter with specific details on what they would like done.

They call for the rule on mandatory masks to be expanded to every community in the province, increased testing and contact tracing capacity, funding to provide shelter for patients who need to isolate, a campaign to target misinformation around the virus and stronger enforcement for all existing guidelines.

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On top of that, they want businesses like bars, bingo halls and gyms, as well as places of worship, to immediately close for at least 28 days.

“It is clear that, without aggressive intervention, case numbers will continue to increase exponentially here just as they have in Alberta and Manitoba. This will overwhelm a healthcare system that is already functioning at capacity and result in the deaths of people from both COVID-19 and other causes,” the letter reads.

“If our province’s leaders show us the way by implementing these initiatives, we know that the people of Saskatchewan will work together to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

Similarly to the last letter, the group also calls for the government to release a detailed plan on how and when stronger measures would be implemented.

Dr. Erin Hamilton, a physician located in the Battlefords area signed the letter. She believes strong measures like this are necessary for multiple reasons.

For one, she thinks it is necessary to think of case numbers as more than just statistics.

“These are real cases and real people that have COVID-19… I’m so worried for all of those people, all of their families and all of the people it affects all around them,” Dr. Hamilton said.

She believes the new measures coming into effect Monday have both positive and negative points.

For one, she thinks the rule not applying to smaller communities doesn’t make sense.

“We were really glad to see that the masking (rule) was expanded, but disappointed that we don’t understand why communities under 5,000 (in population) were excluded. We’re happy to see an expansion, but we don’t think it went quite far enough,” she said.

She believes it’s an unnecessary cut-off that makes understanding the guidelines more difficult.

“Let’s make it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing,” Dr. Hamilton added.

Overall, she believes both average people and the government have a responsibility to do everything they can to fight the virus.

“We’re asking people to stay home, reduce their contacts and please contact government and ask them to do more,” Dr. Hamilton concluded.