As of April 8, the provincial government says there have been 271 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan. Out of the 271 cases 165 are presently considered active.
Saskatoon’s total number of cases sits at 135, the highest concentration of cases in the province. Of the city’s 135 cases, 97 are considered active.
Regina is home to the next-highest concentration of cases, 56 so far with 28 of those cases still considered active.
Five COVID-19 patients in Saskatoon are receiving treatment in hospital with one patient in an intensive care unit.
A different birthday
A man from Marcelin who has Apert Syndrome and is on the autism spectrum is celebrating his 23rd birthday a little differently this year due to COVID-19.
Ethan Verbonac’s mother, Krista, and his grandmother put together a birthday parade so he could celebrate his special day at a distance.
“We had family and friends drive by and we had all of Ethan’s favourite things. We had the police, we had a tow truck, we had a semi and we had our town maintenance equipment. We have such a supportive community. They care for Ethan so much,” Krista said.
The celebration felt “good,” Ethan said.
Saskatoon patient ‘surge’ plan released
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) plans to free up more than 1,500 beds in Saskatoon for a potential surge in acute patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“SHA services will adapt and expand to meet the projected COVID‐19 patient demand, while continuing to deliver essential services to non‐COVID‐19 patients throughout the duration of the event,” according to the SHA’s COVID-19 readiness plan, released publicly on Wednesday.
If required 1,266 beds could be used for COVID-19 patients, with another 301 reserved for non-COVID-19 patients.
In-person assistance for people who are homeless, vulnerable
A group of community organizations have banded together to set up a makeshift social assistance hub at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge on 20th Street West.
“We knew the community still needed some level of service but we wanted to make sure we could do that in a safe manner and wasn’t going to spread COVID-19,” said AIDS Saskatoon executive director Jason Mercredi.
Local businesses feel rent pressure
Many local businesses in Saskatoon are being given little choice but to pay rent for their storefronts while they are shut down.
With non-essential services ordered to close at the end of March, business owners are now dealing with an indefinite future of little to no income – but rental payments loom.
Anthony Graham-Cutts owns Anthony’s Fashion and his rental payment was taken out of his bank account at the start of April as usual despite efforts to work with his landlord while business has dropped by 75 per cent.
Lacrosse season over
The National Lacrosse League has cancelled the remainder of its 2019-20 regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league said in a release Wednesday that officials are “looking at any number of scenarios to return to play when all stakeholders and health officials deem that possible,” but added there is no timeline on when decisions will be made.
The league suspended play on March 12 with seven weeks left to play in the 22-week season.
The NLL has 13 teams, including five Canadian teams based in Toronto, Saskatoon, Halifax, Vancouver and Calgary.
‘Saskatchewan is not immune’
The Saskatchewan Health Authority estimates anywhere from 153,000 to 408,000 Saskatchewan residents will be infected by COVID-19 in its models released on Wednesday.
The “upper-range” scenario includes 408,000 cases and 8,370 deaths. The “mid-range” scenario estimates 262,000 cases with 5,260 deaths. Finally, the “low-range” scenario predicts 153,000 infections and 3,075 deaths.
“As we enter a new month, the reality is hitting home — Saskatchewan is not immune,” the report said. “We can expect more cases and deaths.”
Easter Sunday will be different during COVID-19
“This is our holy day, and we really, really want to be united,” says Father Stefano Penna at St. Paul’s Co-Cathedral.
Like many houses of worship, St. Paul’s has taken to the internet during the pandemic; streaming their services to deliver messages of comfort for those who need it.
“This is the sadness — we believe in a God who came down, not just to give us ideas and principles, but to love us by touching us, and we meet that in community,” Penna said
‘You could see the transition’
COVID-19 is hitting close to home for James Smith Cree Nation members. A letter notifying members of a positive case in the community was delivered on Sunday.
“The day before we got word of the case, people were talking face-to-face. Then all of a sudden, when word got out that we had a case, you could see the transition — now they’re 10 feet apart,” Chief Wally Burns said.
Health Authority to release COVID-19 projections
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will be releasing its modelling on COVID-19 in the province at 11:30 a.m.
Premier Scott Moe said the briefing will show modelling scenarios on the impact of COVID-19. The SHA will also share its surge capacity plan.
A photo captured by the Saskatoon Police Service Aerial Support Unit and shared on social media sums up how probably most people are feeling in the city these days.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
