Newly released documents highlight what provincial officials knew about spread of COVID-19 in fall 2021.Newly obtained internal data shows the Saskatchewan government knew COVID-19 was spreading at an "exponential" rate in the fall of 2021, providing new insight into what officials knew before a devastating COVID-19 wave hit the province.
The IJF and the CBC requested the data more than two years ago through Access to Information legislation. Government bodies are supposed to respond to such requests within 30 days, with a possible 30-day extension in limited circumstances. In this case, it took two and a half years. According to the slides, Saskatchewan's Rt for the week of Aug. 18, 2021 was 1.4, and there were an estimated 3,800 undiagnosed infectious people in the province.Another presentation — dated Sept. 3, 2021 — indicates the Rt had increased to 1.9 by Aug. 29, 2021, with an estimated 8,600 undiagnosed infectious people.At the time these numbers were being recorded by the province, Dr. Cory Neudorf was an interim senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority .
Merriman, who no longer serves as the province's health minister, declined to be interviewed for this story. "Throughout the pandemic, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health continuously reassessed public health risks based on the best available evidence as the situation evolved," the statement read. "So what I truly hope coming out of the last pandemic is that we don't have to face those types of questions and that type of a situation again," Moe said.'Freedom Convoy' organizer from Sask. suing federal government for using Emergencies Act to freeze accounts