(File photo/CJME News staff)

By Lisa Schick/CJME News staff

Sask. nurses’ union shocked COVID rules could be relaxed for Christmas

Dec 7, 2020 | 11:08 AM

Premier Scott Moe has been keeping the door open to the idea of COVID-19 restrictions being loosened by Christmas, allowing people to gather in slightly larger groups for the holiday.

The president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) said it’s wrong to even talk about that.

“This is something that cannot happen, should not happen, and shouldn’t even be contemplated,” said Tracy Zambory.

Zambory said cases keep going up, long-term care is getting hit, ICUs are full, contact tracing is way behind and staff being pulled from other areas to fill in the gaps might not have all the training they need. She said these are the things that need to be looked at.

“We’ve got some pretty big things on our plate right now and we need to have Premier Moe and Dr. (Saqib) Shahab show leadership in those areas and it certainly isn’t talking about softening restrictions. If anything else, we need to be looking at this completely opposite where it’s looking at the targeted shutdowns,” said Zambory.

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Zambory said the province keeps getting half-measures and SUN is confused. She said nurses are nervous, scared, tired and disappointed.

“If we do not start taking decisive action and having leadership in Premier Moe and Dr. Shahab that is decisive, that is calm, and makes it clear what the rules are, we are going to find ourselves in a lot of trouble,” Zambory said.

Zambory is also calling on the people of Saskatchewan, saying their actions can help; she’s imploring people to stay home, wear a mask and wash their hands. She said that things like the workload for contact tracing lies directly at the feet of the public.

On Monday, Moe said it’s too early to know for sure whether larger gatherings will be permitted by Dec. 25, but he did leave the door open for it, pointing to provinces like Quebec that had decided to allow it. However, on Thursday, Quebec’s premier announced that plan was cancelled because case numbers were too high.

On Wednesday, Shahab — Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer — was asked about looser restrictions for Christmas.

He also said he couldn’t give answer on at what point he would be willing to do that, but he did say that he’s comfortable with daily new cases being at a a quarter of what they are currently.