REGINA - New Democratic Party Leader Ryan Meili stood in the Legislature today to ask Premier Scott Moe to join him in a tour of one of Regina’s struggling ICUs to gain a better understanding of what is happening on the front-lines of the battle against COVID-19.
“Over the weekend we continued to see terrifying case numbers across the province. We have the highest rate of hospitalizations in the entire country. Worse than Ontario,” said Meili. “I invite the Premier today to put on all the necessary PPE and come tour one of our struggling ICUs. I am hopeful that the Premier will take the opportunity to see first hand the realities we are facing in our hospitals.”
Meili noted that in addition to Regina, Saskatoon’s ICU’s now have to have two patients to a room and the pediatric units are being filled with adult Covid-19 patients. Doctors were told at the Physicians Town Hall last Thursday that:
- Saskatchewan is facing accelerated exponential growth
- The majority of new cases in Saskatchewan are variants and rising
- Previously, the majority of deaths were in those aged 80 and over; this week the majority of deaths were in those in their 60s and older
- Our acute care system is in crisis and that if the current trajectory holds our health system will be overrun
“Our health care professionals are frustrated. They don’t know how many more alarm bells can be sounded. They don’t know how they can keep saying that we are in major trouble and not have this Premier listen,” said Meili. “The least the Premier can do is work with me to arrange a tour and get a picture of what our hard-working doctors, nurses and front-line staff are dealing with every day.”
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