St. Louis Mayor Marc Caron. (submitted photo/Marc Caron)

By Ian Gustafson

COVID-19

‘We would not endorse any of these actions’: St. Louis mayor concerned with depiction of community

Feb 4, 2021 | 3:53 PM

The mayor of the Village of St. Louis is raising concerns on how the community was portrayed following a media release from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) alerting residents of an increased risk of COVID-19 exposure.

According to the release sent out by the SHA yesterday, “due to a number of cases linked to events in the community and subsequent spread to household members,” there is an increased risk of COVID-19 exposure in St. Louis and area. Furthermore, the SHA said the risk of exposure comes to those who “may have attended any outdoor recreational events, suppers, poker rallies, or poker card parties outside their family bubble since Christmas.”

Mayor Marc Caron is concerned the release made it look like the community endorsed these events.

“That is totally false,” Caron said. “I’ll even add to it there has been no poker rally happening. The last poker rally that we had is an annual poker rally put on by our Lions Club in St. Louis and that happened in February 2020 pre-COVID.”

As for outdoor recreational events he said everything was cancelled since February of last year.

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“We had one event at New Year’s Eve which was our annual fireworks and we had permission from the Sask. Health Authority to put that on using COVID protocols,” he said.

“I just want to reiterate our village does not have any knowledge of these things happening and we would not condone any of these actions, we would not endorse any of these actions if they were asked to take place because we do follow the COVID protocols very seriously here,” he said.

He added he is concerned about the COVID-19 cases in the community but does not want the public thinking they do not follow the guidelines.

SHA responds

According to a statement by Medical Health Officer Dr. Khami Chokani, as of today the North Central 2 subzone, which includes St. Louis, has 56 active cases. He added a “significant” number of those cases are in the St. Louis area.

As part of the SHA’s contact tracing investigation since Christmas they found many people were attending different events outside of their home.

“The events discussed in the PSA (Public Service Announcement), including poker rallies and suppers, were privately organized gatherings,” Chokani said in the statement. “We appreciate the support of the Village of St. Louis council and administration as we encourage everyone to follow the public health orders and public health measures to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.”

Following the increased risk of exposure, the SHA is implementing drop-in testing clinics at the St. Louis Community Hall. The testing will be held Friday, Feb. 5 and Sunday, Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Those who attend do not need a referral but need their Saskatchewan Health card to get tested.

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Ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12