Since the first presumptive case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in Saskatchewan back on March 12, many in Saskatchewan have been clamouring for more information as far as where the cases were located.
The provincial government divided its reporting into six regions: the Regina area, the Saskatoon area and four vast territories.
The south region, which included Estevan and the rest of the southeast area, appeared to be about the size of Nova Scotia. It extended from the Alberta border to the Manitoba border, and in western Saskatchewan, it extended north of the Trans-Canada Highway.
So when you found out about a case in the south – there were only 15 in the first 10 weeks of the pandemic – people would be alarmed, but for all you knew, it could be in Swift Current or Maple Creek.
Finally the provincial government has succeeded in giving us more specifics on the cases. The solution they have provided isn’t going to go as far as some would like, but this is likely as good as it’s going to get.
The south region has now been broken up into the southwest, south-central and southeast regions. Furthermore, the southeast is broken up into four different zones. If you’re wondering, Estevan is in Zone 4, as is most of the southeast corner. Midale and Macoun are the only communities in close proximity to the Energy City to be in another zone. They’re grouped in Zone 3 with Weyburn’s area.
You have to wonder why it took so long for the province to take this step, but the good news is they’ve made this move.
And what did we find out with these maps? We’ve been doing a pretty damn good job over the past five months.
As of Aug. 4, the day the maps were first released, the southeast region had 11 cases. That’s it. There are only two jurisdictions that have had fewer: the far north’s central region, which is very sparsely populated, and the far northeast.
The only area with a case count to rival the southeast is the east-central region, which has 30 cases.
When the maps were released, five cases in the southeast were active. That number was down to two as of Monday. We saw late last month when the Saskatchewan Health Authority had to issue an advisory over a person who tested positive for COVID-19 who visited the Bar Bar in Kenosee Lake. The government hasn’t disclosed whether that led to further positive tests, and it didn’t reveal any other affected businesses, but people were obviously concerned.
While there have been some instances in which people have let their guard down, we’ve been responsible in the southeast. We’ve been smart. Maybe other jurisdictions could learn from our outstanding example.
But we need to give ourselves a pat on the back, rather than having other people pat us on the back. We should be proud of the work we’ve done, but we can’t be complacent.
We need to keep thinking about all the things we’ve been focused on in the past five months, such as social distancing and hand washing.
The rest of the province, and other jurisdictions across the country, should be turning to us and wondering why we’ve been able to do so well over the past five months. Let’s give them reason to keep asking what we’ve done right.
Some would like to see a further breakdown for the maps. We’d have no problem if the government were to disclose case locations in Estevan or Weyburn, for example; you could release some details for cases in the small cities without harming privacy.
But if they were to close a 50-something man from Frobisher or even Midale had tested positive, that could be viewed as an infringement of the privacy of the patient.
So let’s be happy with the steps that the government has taken to provide more information, and hope that our numbers continue to be the lowest in the province outside of the far north.
