Visitor limitations in place at Rosthern Hospital

Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Rosthern,  the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced that visitor limitations were put in place at Rosthern Hospital on Jan. 20. Family presence and visitation will be limited to compassionate reasons at the hospital.

“The decision to restrict family​​ presence is not taken lightly. These measures are in place to keep you, your loved ones, and health care workers safe.  The Saskatchewan Health Authority is asking the public for their support and cooperation in order to contain the spread of the virus,” a media release stated.

Compassionate care reasons include, but are not limited to, family or support persons during end-of-life care, major surgery, intensive care/critical care, maternal/pediatrics, long-term care residents whose quality of life or care needs are unmet or those inpatients and outpatients with specific challenges. 

No other visitors are allowed into Rosthern Hospital at this time and these limitations will remain in place until it is safe to return to the previous level of family presence.  

“Family members and support people who are permitted must undergo a health screening prior to entering the facility or home. This includes a temperature check and questionnaire.”  

The family member or support person will be required to perform hand hygiene (hand washing and/or use of hand sanitizer) when entering and leaving the facility or home and when entering and leaving the patient’s or resident’s room. Family members and support people will be required to wear a medical grade mask while inside the facility or home and potentially additional personal protective equipment if required. Family members and support people are not permitted to wait in waiting rooms or other common areas.

COVID-19 case connected to Ecole St. Anne School

The first COVID-19 case in Prince Albert since schools re-opened on Jan. 18 was reported Thursday morning.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) identified a positive COVID-19 case in an individual at Ecole St. Anne School in Prince Albert.

The Prince Albert Catholic School Division explained in a news release that communication has been shared with the specific classroom/cohort, as well as the school community.
They also said case wasn’t acquired at the school.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority is proceeding with their assessment of the situation, and all individuals deemed to be close contacts will be communicated with.”

As is the case in all cases in the division no further information will be made available citing privacy concerns.

“We want to reassure families of Ecole St. Anne School that school will continue to operate for in-person classes while maintaining the safety protocols that are in place,” the release added.

The cohort impacted by this cases being notified and provided instruction. The students and families will be receiving updates using the Edsby platform.  

“Our thoughts and prayers are with this member of our school community, and we hope they are doing well.”
They emphasized that everyone has a shared responsibility to decrease the risk of COVID-19 entering schools.

“Thank you to everyone for continuing to be diligent in performing daily health screening, staying home if ill, calling HealthLine 811 if exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, practicing proper hand hygiene, maintaining physical distancing as much as possible, wearing a mask when appropriate and doing everything we can to keep each other safe,” the release stated.

Lockdown lifted at Columbian Centre in Prince Albert

The Columbian Centre seniors living complex in Prince Albert has been taken out of lockdown.

The senior’s living complex was put under lockdown after public health detected five COVID-19 cases among residents on Dec. 23. After further testing was completed on Jan. 2, no further cases were detected and the lockdown was lifted just two days later.

 “The rest of us all tested negative so they lifted our lockdown on Monday, Jan. 4,” facility manager Rob Fahlman said.

“Everybody in here was patient they persevered and they also recognized that the regulations during COVID have  to be followed and it was Public Health and we had to do our part to curb the COVID,”

The news came as a great relief to residents.

“We were all very happy to hear that and very thankful. And we just attribute it to of course the Public Health looking after us and the tenants themselves being obedient” he explained.

“A lot of our tenants are praying too, oh yes they were praying hard and they told me so and I believe them. Through Public Health’s assistance we were able to nip it in the bud.”

According to Fahlman, after an initial positive test was confirmed on Dec. 23, public health informed Columbian Centre that seniors were not allowed to leave their rooms and visitors were not permitted.

All residents were tested on Christmas Eve and the other four positive results were returned in late December. The province, in the official listings on the province’s online dashboard, listed the outbreak as declared on Dec. 27. An outbreak is declared when there are at least two active cases in a location.

Things have returned to relative normalcy in the building since the lockdown was lifted.

“For two weeks now people have been going about their business. They missed some time with their families of course over Christmas and New Year’s but I think most of them made up for it after within the confines of the COVID restrictions. They have reunited with their families in some way,” Fahlman said.

 “My hat is off to these people because they have been through a lot already. And in this time of their life family is huge for them. It was quite a sacrifice for them.”

Last Friday, public health offered vaccinations to residents. Fifty took part. Still, the building isn’t taking any chances.

 “I tell them that from my understanding this vaccination isn’t going to kick in for another couple of weeks so there is no letting down on the masks and sanitizing that we do in the building. There is no letting down in anything so we just keep on doing what we have been doing,” Fahlman said.

Moe threatens to close businesses flaunting public health orders

Premier Scott Moe floated further enforcement of ‘bad actors’ Tuesday in response to videos circulating of alleged flagrant violations of COVID-19 restrictions at restaurants and bars.

Moe said he has asked public health to look at stricter enforcement, including ordering businesses to close.

In a press conference on Tuesday Moe addressed a video that surfaced of the Tap Brewhouse and Liquor Store in Regina over the weekend.

“I’m sure many saw the video this past weekend with patrons in a bar or restaurant here in Regina where they were evidently and flagrantly outside of what the public health orders recommend and certainly outside of what the public health laws allow for. But the vast majority of our restaurants in this province are adhering to our public health orders that are in place but there are these few outliers that are not,”

Moe gave the example of sports still being restricted in the province and a petition circulating for a return of sports in the province.

“I have sitting on my desk right now a petition with over 10,000 signatures on it, signatures from parents, form adults that are asking to allow their children to play hockey or to have the opportunity for competitive youth recreation,” Moe said.

Moe explained that he asks himself if all restaurants need to be punished for the actions of a few who don’t adhere to public health restrictions.

“We don’t need to punish all of those that are following the public health orders. But to those establishments and those individuals who flagrantly operating outside of the public health orders — they do need to be punished,” he said.

However introducing new measures was off the table until the current measures have completed on Jan. 29.

“I don’t believe that we need new measures put in place to bend the COVID curve here in Saskatchewan. We do need everyone to follow the measures that are in place and enough is enough. It is time for us to start enforcing those that are not following those measures,” Moe said.

Moe said that children are making sacrifices including sports and it is time for adults to make the same. Moe said he has talked to public health and encourages law enforcement, when there is flagrant violations of orders in establishments, to ramp enforcement up.

“We are not going to punish everyone for the acts of a few,” Moe said.

 Chief Medical Health Officer Saqib Shahab described his own dilemma regarding case numbers.

“It is a hard and difficult situation because we continue to be stuck in this 300 range and you know like I said before we want to be heading down below 250, below 200, below 150 that is where we need to go and in December we were heading in that direction and over the holidays we really went down but that was artificial because our testing went down,” he said.

Shahab said that case numbers so far in January are spiking due to a lack of compliance with public health orders over the Holiday season.

 “We saw cases over 300 or 400. Now, we are not seeing those numbers so much but we are seeing examples where people aren’t complying with the guidance and it seems to be mostly younger people or in situations where people seem compelled to go because of the death of a loved one and we are seeing transmission there.”

Baseline transmission is high at 300 cases a day. Shahab said small gatherings can create transmissions. There have also been outbreaks connected to funerals and wakes in the north that have created uncontrolled spread.

“I think we need to pay our respects virtually as much as possible. Guidance allows for close family and friends to get together for those occasions. But I think overall we have to be very cautious,”

The trend numbers also show hospitalization numbers creeping up to a level that is unsustainable.

“They are creeping up and over time I think that creates its own pressures on the health care system and unfortunately it generates deaths as well,” Shahab said.

Moe reiterated that the measures are significant and did show some success after they were enacted in December and before the holiday increase

“We peaked in the time after the holiday bump, which we had predicted would occur, with about 328 cases per day on the seven day rolling average and we are down now to about 300 so we need to continue that downward trajectory,” he said,

Moe explained that he thought the cases were trending down those trends will be watched in light of the extension of public health measures to Jan. 29.

Moe addresses vaccine number changes and Pfizer vaccine problems

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said vaccination numbers for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are improving after a holiday slowdown. Pfizer recently announced that doses would be slowed due to a situation at a factory and Moe reiterated a point made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a press conference earlier in the day.

“I think Premier Ford made some comments about what he would urge the Prime Minister to do and that was to find someone if not the CEO of Pfizer and maybe light a firecracker up his yin-yang I believe was the words that I heard. He did say that … if the Prime Minister was able to do that there would be a lineup of premiers behind and I would bring a lighter,” Moe said.

Moe gave credit to healthcare workers for and policy changes for the improvement in vaccination numbers.

“In the past week we have administered vaccines in long term care facilities in a number of communities throughout the province and to many other people aged 70 and over in those very same communities. As a result we were able to deliver about 15,000 vaccination shots this past week,” Moe said.

He explained that Saskatchewan is currently second on a per capita basis to Prince Edward Island on delivery of vaccinations.

“In fact, if Saskatchewan were a country our pace of vaccines delivered would now be in the top ten among all countries worldwide. So that is very good news. And we will continue to deliver vaccines as safely and as quickly and as efficiently as possible just as soon as we are able to receive them from the federal government.”

The provincial NDP took issue with the way vaccines have been rolled out. During a press conference Tuesday, they cited a situation at a Regina assisted living resident where leftover vaccines were divvied up by drawing names from a hat.

NDP deputy leader Nicole Sarauer said it’s a sign of a wider problem of a confusing and disorganized vaccine roll-out.

Administrator of the Qu’Aappelle House in Regina, Bev Desautels, doesn’t see it that way.

She told the Regina Leader-Post she requested enough doses to vaccinate all 75 residents and staff at the facility on Tuesday. But public health alerted her that morning they wouldn’t be vaccinating 15 assisted-living residents. The vaccine was only for those in long-term care, a higher level of care.

Yet there was enough vaccine left in vials already opened to make up six doses. Public health nurses didn’t want to waste the precious fluid, so they asked Desautels to pick six assisted-living residents to get the shot, she recalls. She’d have to leave nine unvaccinated and still at risk.

“They asked me to choose, and I said, no, I’m not going to choose,” she recalls. “So I put the names in a hat and the nurses pulled out names.”

The SHA said that the incident will be reviewed, but applauded staff for their ingenuity.

The slowdown of Pfizer shipments will mean only 2,925 more doses of the vaccine are delivered next week.

“Those doses will be delivered to Regina to Fort Qu’Appelle and to North Battleford. Where they will be administered to residents and staff in long term care as well as personal care homes. At the pace we are going and with the slowdown in deliveries from Pfizer we expect that Saskatchewan will run out of vaccines over the course of the next few days,” Moe said.

For the next month, the province will be receiving 17.5 thousand doses from Pfizer which is over half of what was expected.

“We did almost that many shots this past week alone. And just this morning Major General Fortin said that Canada is expecting more deliveries from Pfizer next week. So we are in the process of seeking clarification if that will further impact Saskatchewan’s total supply of vaccines over the course of the next four weeks,” Moe said.

According to Moe, the province will have to revise their vaccine rollout plan and needs the federal government to pick up the pace on deliveries as well as negotiations with Pfizer.

Moe expects life to return to normal after a significant portion of the province has received both doses of any of the vaccines available.

“I would encourage everyone to sign up to get vaccinated as soon as it is your turn and to continue in the meantime to follow all of the public health orders and the guidelines that are in place. We will get through this as we get more of our population vaccinated yes, but until then I am asking everyone to keep following all of these public health orders that are in place. Keep yourselves safe and keep those around you safe and keep your family safe,” Moe said.

Six deaths related to COVID-19 reported Tuesday

There were another six deaths related to COVID-19 reported in Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

There were five deaths reported in the 80-years-old and over age group with two in Regina and the South East and one in the Saskatoon zone.

One reported death in the Central West zone was in the 60 to 69 age group.

The number of deaths in the province has grown to 225.

There were 309 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province on Tuesday.

The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 30 new cases.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 283 active cases.  

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 141 active cases and North Central 3 has 140 active cases.  

There were also four case with pending information added to the North Central zone.  

The current seven-day average is 300, or 26.4 cases per 100,000 population.  

 The recovered number now sits at 16,490 after 412 more  were reported.

On Jan. 18 there were 1,957 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered, bringing the total number of vaccinations to 25,475.

There were 36 doses administered in North Central yesterday. None were administered in the adjacent North East zone.

There were 2,929 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Jan 18.

COVID-19 recovered numbers to change over next few days

According to a release, the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority continue to ensure that public reporting of COVID-19 cases reflects current, active case counts including those who require hospital care. 

They explained that currently the reporting database is being updated to reconcile a significant backlog in the number of recoveries and these will be reflected in the daily case statistics over the coming days.  

Reporting procedures will be amended to ensure such reconciliations are not required going forward.  The data reconciliation includes updates to active cases in the following areas: 21 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 588 cases,  15-20 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 567 cases and 11-14 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 882 cases.

Sturgeon Lake First Nation COVID-19 outbreak declared over

The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) announced on Jan. 17 that they were ending the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak declared in Sturgeon Lake First Nation on Dec. 30, 2020.

Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, Medical Health Officer with NITHA, has declared the outbreak over after the standard 28-day period has passed after the onset of the last case that had the potential to contribute to transmission in Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

“This does not mean there are no cases in the community. The public is reminded that during the COVID-19 pandemic it is important to continue to take precautions to protect yourself, your families and everyone who lives in the community. COVID-19 is present in Saskatchewan and we all have a responsibility to minimize the spread of the disease,” the release stated.

They reminded people that masking in all indoor public spaces and physical distancing should be done at all times to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Another reminder was for everyone to follow the public health guidelines for hand washing, physical distancing, self-monitoring and self-isolating to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect our most vulnerable populations.

“Together we can make a positive difference in our community by reducing the spread.”

USask study finds COVID-19 pandemic leads to worsening of habits

A University of Saskatchewan (USask) study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant worsening of already poor dietary habits, low activity levels, sedentary behaviour and high alcohol consumption among university students.

The findings of the study—the first to assess changes in students’ dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour before and during the pandemic were published on Monday, Jan. 18 in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.

“Our findings are important because university students, especially those most vulnerable for poor nutrition and sedentary behaviour, should be targeted for interventions aimed at maintaining and improving physical activity and dietary practices during this pandemic and beyond,” said research lead and USask nutrition professor Dr. Gordon Zello (PhD).

The four-month study involved 125 graduate and undergraduate students at USask and the University of Regina who were the most vulnerable as they were living independently or had roommates or partners and were responsible for buying and preparing their own meals.

The students responded to an online questionnaire about their food and drink consumption, physical activity and sedentary behaviour before and during the pandemic.

According to Zello The study began just as Saskatchewan was imposing pandemic restrictions, so details of what students were eating prior to the pandemic and during it were fresh on the minds of students.

“With pre-pandemic research already showing university students to be a vulnerable group for inadequate diet and physical activity, the measures imposed to curb the COVID pandemic presented a unique opportunity to examine further impact on their lives,” he explained.

The study found that the students consumed less food every day during the pandemic compared to before. For instance, they ate 20 per cent less meat, 44 per cent less dairy, and 45 per cent fewer vegetables. While they also drank considerably fewer beverages such as coffee and tea, their alcohol consumption increased significantly, said Zello.

“This dietary inadequacy combined with long hours of sedentary behaviour and decreased physical activity could increase health risks in this unique population during COVID-19 confinement and once the pandemic ends,” Zello said.

Several reasons could explain the dietary shift, according to Zello and co-investigators kinesiology professor Dr. Phil Chilibeck (PhD) and post-doctoral fellow Leandy Bertrand. Psychological distress has been linked to poor diet quality, particularly increased consumption of alcohol. As well, students could be eating less to offset their lack of exercise and increased sedentariness.

Zello explained measures implemented to fight COVID spread, such as reduced store and restaurant hours, may have limited students’ shopping frequency and at-home availability of food.

While only 16 per cent of participants were meeting Canadian guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week before the pandemic, that further decreased to 9.6 per cent during the pandemic.

Of those who were meeting Canadian activity guidelines before the pandemic, 90 per cent became less active. Meanwhile, the number of hours spent in sedentary behaviour rose by three hours, to about 11 hours a day.

“There’s no doubt that measures such as the closures of gyms and other recreational facilities by the universities and other private and public establishments within the province resulted in reductions in the level of physical activity,” the study stated.

Another reason for the reduction in physical activity may be that many students were no longer walking to school after the universities moved to remote learning.

About 55 per cent were employed before the pandemic, dropping to 49 per cent during the pandemic.

Other members of the research team were graduate student Keely Shaw, research assistant John Ko, and undergraduate summer student Dalton Deprez.

COVID-19 outbreak declared at Black Lake First Nation

The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority’s public health officials announced a COVID-19 outbreak in the community of Black Lake First Nation on Jan. 17.

The outbreak was connected to an increasing number of confirmed cases linked to both a mass gathering and travel out of the community.

Officials are notifying the public that individuals who tested COVID-19 positive attended a wake/funeral event in Black on New Year’s and Jan. 1 and 2, 2021when the individuals were likely infectious.

A contract tracing investigation is currently underway.

Public health officials are advising individuals who were at these events on the dates specified to immediately self-isolate if they have had or currently have any symptoms of COVID-19. The also advise to call HealthLine 811 or a community health clinic to arrange for assessment and testing.

“All other individuals who are not experiencing symptoms should self-monitor for 14 days from the date of last exposure, it is important to note that individuals may develop symptoms from two to 14 days following exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19,” the release explained.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can vary from person to person but some common symptoms include a new or worsening cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, temperature equal to or over 39 C, feeling feverish, chills, fatigue or weakness, muscle or body aches, now loss of smell or taste, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms and feeling very unwell.

Buckland Bridge to remain closed

Despite a request from the provincial Ministry of Highways, the Buckland Bridge will remain closed.

The RM of Buckland considered the request during council’s regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 11.

“The Ministry of Highways wondered if we could open up the bridge to single lane traffic and so our thoughts to them were well who is going to take responsibility for it and how do you open it to one lane of traffic and monitor it,” Reeve Don Fyrk explained.

Fyrk explained that the decision to close it was because of the safety issue and the decision would not change.

 “And the thing is that we closed it because an engineer’s report said it was unsafe so that is why we closed it. We have no intentions of opening it again even to single lane traffic,” he added.

The bridge was closed beginning Nov. 2 and is closed to all traffic.

Alternate routes are on McLeod Road and Greig Road.

Due to the questionable condition of the bridge and in the interest of public safety, council made the decision to close the bridge to traffic until the road lift and bridge replacement is complete.

According to administrator Cori Sarginson during council’s August meeting, they have received their funding from the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) which was for $485,083 and was approved by the provincial government in July. They are awaiting approval so they can tender out bridge design, which would be completed by the engineering firm.

The bridge was damaged last spring due to ice buildup.

The goal is to have the bridge project completed and open at the conclusion of the next construction season.

Council also discussed another matter involving the Ministry of Highways.

“We tried to get them to put up some city lights like Red, Green and Yellow where that accident happened on the Shellbrook highway. They are not interested in that,” Fyrk explained.

Fyrk clarified that the decision comes down to the provincial Ministry.

During the meeting the council also renewed the retainer with Buckland Fire and Rescue until 2022. They also discussed the Prince Albert and District Planning Commission budget for 2021 and delivery of a new grader which they recently purchased.

 “It was a short meeting, we didn’t have any delegations or anything. It was just a lot of housecleaning,” Fyrk explained.

According to Fyrk it was a typical meeting for the beginning of a new year. 

“Just to get everybody on the same track and a few things came up when we were doing our budgets just opening discussion on it, Just what we actually need and what we can do without just your basics,” he said.

At this point they continued challenges arising from COVID-19.

“It is going to be a tough year again,” Fyrk said.