Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili wants COVID-19 testing to ramp up in the province after the provincial case count increased with 52 new cases between Saturday and Sunday.
Part of the reason there was a spike in cases this past weekend in Saskatchewan was due to a snowmobile rally hosted earlier this month at Christopher Lake – a community just north of Prince Albert.
Meili believes the province is not running out of tests and said now is the time to use them to trace residents in order to stop the virus from spreading further.
“If we aren’t testing and it’s spreading, the testing later won’t be of much use,” suggested Meili. “It’s now and we have to be testing everyone we can.”
He would also like to see more testing data be released to the public so people are informed on what’s happening around them. One example of this would be releasing information on locations that have confirmed cases.
“We should expand to specific communities. If it’s in Estevan, the people of Estevan should know that for their own protection, their own safety and for us to further motivate communities around the province.”
Meili mentioned that he has spoken to people who had symptoms or had a good reason to get tested, and were told to “just self-isolate and not get tested” when they contacted HealthLine 811.
He said this is the opposite of what the province should be doing right now.
“We have the capacity to increase testing now. Trying to hold tests until later and allow for more widespread community transmission is the wrong approach.”
