The provincial government will not be releasing the location of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases.
When the novel coronavirus was first detected in the province, health officials initially divulged this information, but recently stopped prompting calls from First Nations Chiefs for this information to be made public.
“In order for us to be extra cautious in our daily lives we need to know which towns, villages and hamlets are impacted and where those people with COVID-19 are,” said Pasqua First Nation Chief Todd Peigan. “I’m talking about making us aware, because if we don’t the community transmission of this deadly virus will escalate and then we all will be seriously impacted.”
The early release of location and other information, lead to the discovery of the two cases in Southend, yet where the third Far North case is not revealed.
“If you take any geographic region that have six communities, where one has a case and five don`t does that mean the risk is higher in that community? Absolutely not, because the risk is throughout Saskatchewan,” Saskatchewan Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Saqib Shahab said. “We have to minimize unnecessary travel, apart from essential services who have to travel from one province to another or from one community to another to provide essential services. We also have to minimize unnecessary travel within communities.”
(Photo: Dr. Saqib Shahab. By Dan Jones)