Today as the Saskatchewan government is lifting the last COVID-19 public health measures, we are directing thousands of people in Saskatchewan this week to call Premier Moe to extend them, as so many medical professionals are warning us to do mid-pandemic, to avoid needless pandemic suffering and death.
Let Scott Moe know you expect evidence-based, expert advice to inform Saskatchewan’s public health policy. The Premier’s office can be reached at 306-787-9433.
News articles are telling us that Saskatchewan COVID-19 hospitalization rates remain at the breaking point yet the province is removing all protective workplace and community health measures today. February has seen one of the highest rates for COVID-19-related deaths, averaging almost five deaths a day.
While they will be in receipt of our petition of over 10000 signatures today, it’s also crucial that as many of us as possible make our voices heard by phone.
Your call matters because: the anti-public-health, anti-vax community has also used mass phone-ins to successfully pressure Regina city council to remove all municipal public health restrictions. Phone calls make a difference, especially if there is a storm of them in a short period of time.
If you are on Twitter, please amplify us by re-tweeting our Tweet about this phone zap campaign. We are grateful to be collaborating with Saskforward for this campaign.
What to say if you’re not sure
If you are angry and concerned about the premature removal of public health measures to control COVID-19, you likely can talk about your personal concerns at length.
In an age of texts and emails, however, it is often hard to feel articulate enough of the phone. And with so much information about COVID-19, we often find it hard to make a ‘case’ if we’re expressing our concerns.
While your phone call to the Premier’s office will not require you to be a lawyer arguing a case, here are some points you can riff on below:
The consensus of medical experts at the largest bodies dealing with public health, including the WHO and CDC, are recommending we go slow in removing public health measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. We should be extending public health measures like the Saskatchewan vaccination passport and mandatory indoor masking.
We are being told to protect ourselves and manage our own risk, but COVID-19 infection and hospitalization data is no longer being reported to the public in a timely way.
We would be better able to manage our risk if PCR tests continued to be freely available as part of our healthcare system for the foreseeable future.
Constantly changing public health orders to appease a very vocal minority is frustrating for all residents, including those who are trying to reduce their exposure to COVID-19.
The Government of Saskatchewan is overreaching in its authority by providing directives to education and health care entities that disagree with the government’s politicization of COVID-19.
Premier Scott Moe is also encouraging a dangerous and unscientifically founded sense of futility over handling or controlling COVID-19 spread:
- The premier has spread disinformation that claims that the vaccine does not work to prevent transmission or infection, yet has never provided a source for this claim, even after outspoken Saskatchewan doctors have corrected him.
- Premier Scott Moe has stated that public health orders have not reduced COVID-19 cases in other jurisdictions in defence of his government’s decision to end the public health order. This is not a valid reason because there is no way to know what COVID cases would be in these jurisdictions without public health orders in place. It’s likely their numbers would be much worse.
We need mandatory sick days in Saskatchewan to control the spread of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, so workers (perhaps yourself) are not faced with the choice of going to work with COVID-19 or foregoing a paycheque.