Premier Scott Moe discusses the public health measures the Government of Saskatchewan implemented on Sept. 16, 2021. (Facebook Live)

By Brent Bosker/CKOM News

Moe brushes off suggestions government ignored warnings about COVID surge

Nov 8, 2021 | 1:46 PM

The COVID-19 surge this fall in Saskatchewan that saw record-setting numbers of residents in intensive care is a scenario the provincial government was warned about it months before it came to be.

According to a Postmedia report, the government was first presented with that potential outcome by doctors on June 15, nearly a month before the government dropped all public health orders on July 11.

The modelling data obtained by Postmedia through a Freedom of Information request has never been made public.

Speaking to Gormley on Monday, Premier Scott Moe brushed off suggestions his government ignored the warnings from doctors.

“Those were precisely — not so much the circuit breaker — (but) precisely the conversations that were happening when we would move forward, if needed to, with the proof-of-vaccination policy and indoor masking which we did in the middle of September,” said Moe.

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“Modelling is but one tool that our chief medical health officer uses in the decisions ultimately that he makes.”

As he has done before, Moe admitted his government should have moved sooner on introducing those health measures.

Moe said since the middle of September, the number of fully vaccinated residents has increased from 70 per cent to nearly 80 per cent.

Moe says reducing surgery wait times is a top priority

Since the start of the pandemic, about 26,000 surgeries have been delayed in Saskatchewan, and that list continues to grow longer every day.

Moe said “significant” initiatives will be needed in the coming months to get the health system back on track and to start clearing the backlog.

One option the government is exploring is using the private sector.

“Everything is on the table,” said Moe. “We’re looking at expanding our public system. We’re looking at, ‘Can we incorporate, through the one line, the private surgical initiatives and can we expand that as well in the short term?”

The government has yet to speculate on how long it’ll take to get through the backlog. Moe hinted on Monday that announcements will be coming in a matter of weeks to start addressing the issue.