Researcher defends work after Sask. premier calls COVID-19 death study 'misinformation'
CBC
A University of Toronto researcher is defending her work after Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe referred to her estimate on excess deaths related to COVID-19 in the province as "egregious misinformation."
Tara Moriarty, an associate professor and infectious diseases researcher at the University of Toronto, has been studying excess deaths in Canada and how they relate to COVID-19.
She is the lead author for the working group of a peer-reviewed study commissioned by the Royal Society of Canada on excess deaths during the pandemic.
Moriarty was featured in a recent Saskatoon Star-Phoenix story, in which she said the number of Saskatchewan deaths could be seven times higher than the provincial total of 977.
Moe was asked about the province's reporting of deaths at a news conference on Monday.
"I'm hearing numbers that are in the thousands, that simply is nothing more than misinformation and it should be challenged," Moe said.
He said the province averages 10,000 deaths a year and a suggestion that COVID-19 deaths were being underreported "nothing short of some of the most egregious misinformation that I've seen throughout this pandemic. And it really shouldn't be spread."
According to Statistics Canada, there were 10,219 deaths in 2020 — 663 more than in 2019.
The 10-year average for deaths in Saskatchewan is 9,390. The province officially reported 153 COVID-19 deaths in 2020.
On Monday, Moriarty defended the work of her team and her estimate on deaths in a letter to Moe she posted on Twitter.
Moriarty said Saskatchewan could see 700 deaths in the coming months, offered to help Saskatchewan prevent deaths and explain how deaths have been missed.
She welcomed Moe to check her information, how she came to her calculation of excess deaths, which she said was available online and peer-reviewed by experts.
In her statement, Moriarty said the province should adopt post-mortem testing, like Manitoba and Quebec.
"Post-mortem testing is crucial for determining if people died of COVID-19."
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.