Sask. premier, health minister say Dr. Saqib Shahab recommended shift to weekly COVID-19 reports
CBC
Saskatchewan's premier and health minister say the decision to shift to weekly reports on COVID-19 data was the result of a "clinical decision" and recommendation from the province's top doctor.
The province moved from a daily reporting structure through a COVID-19 dashboard to weekly reports published online on Feb. 10.
According to Health Minister Paul Merriman, that reporting structure was a recommendation made by Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab.
"This is what Dr. Shahab has recommended we report out," Merriman told the legislature during question period on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health confirmed that the recommendation from Shahab was made at the end of January.
On Tuesday, Merriman reiterated that the change in policy was Shahab's recommendation. The health minister said he no longer receives daily updates on COVID-19 cases.
"To be clear, I do not get any information prior to Thursday," the day the reports come out, he said. "I see it Thursday prior to it going out to the public."
NDP health critic Vicki Mowat said that raises question about the heath minister's judgment.
"Make no mistake that this is an attempt to hide the information from Saskatchewan people," Mowat said.
The response from the health minister comes as the province's Official Opposition is calling for a return to a more frequent reporting structure.
The epidemiological reports published by the provincial government every Thursday often share data that is nearly a week old by the time it is published, meaning any real-time analysis is impossible.
The latest report, issued March 3, provided information on key metrics such as deaths, cases and vaccination up to Feb. 26 — information that is 10 days old as of Tuesday.
Mowat said giving people less information about hospitalizations and death rates doesn't make sense at this point in the pandemic.
The decision means people are unable to make their own risk assessments around COVID-19, she said.
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