'Do not have gatherings': Sask. top doctor says to limit yourself to essential contacts

Saskatchewan's top doctor is asking residents to limit their contact with people to only the essential, and to not have gatherings.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said staying away from gatherings is critical to stopping the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

"We need to do everything to blunt the wave. This is not the time for any gatherings at all. You should do what is essential, which means going to work and going to school. But otherwise not having any contact with anyone outside your household," Shahab said at a news conference on Thursday.

The province is still not implementing official gathering restrictions, as other provinces have done, despite skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers.

Meanwhile, videos allegedly showing high school students partying mask-less and in close quarters on New Year's Eve, as well videos of adults at nightclubs, are being shared across social media in the province. They're fuelling some frustration among Saskatchewan residents.

"I have received a couple of reports about house parties that are very crowded and have resulted in secondary transmission in schools," said Shahab. 

Shahab said he has not received a lot of information about transmissions linked to New Year's celebrations.

"I think the next two to four weeks, we really need to be very cautious. I would like to say that the government relies on the public actually doing the right thing, and most of us do. But if a significant proportion don't, then that means that unfortunately the government would have to consider stronger measures."

Shahab said the Omicron is less severe than other COVID-19 variants, but by no means something residents should disregard.  

"Absolutely I think a single large transmission event right now can generate hundreds of cases in that event, which can within a week lead to thousands of cases because the doubling time was three to four days," he said.

"So within two to three weeks, one single ill-planned and not recommended event can result in thousands of cases which, once they impact people who are unvaccinated, who are older, who are frail and compromised, will lead to increase in hospitalizations."

In a statement to the CBC, the province said it would not be bringing in gathering limits as of Thursday.

"But as the Premier has stated, he is not ruling out new measures in the coming days if required," read the statement. 

Dr. Tamara Hinz, a Saskatoon child and adolescent psychiatrist and an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the college of medicine, said she found the pictures of partying high school students crammed together in a room shocking.