Newswire

SASKATOON -- Saskatoon paramedics responded to a record 100 overdoses between July 27 and Aug. 3 – and Jason Mecredi says the true number of overdoses may have been higher. Mecredi, the executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction, calls it a “public health issue” and says the figure could be much higher if the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) recorded and tracked overdoses…

Public health officials aren't doing enough to reach out to people from different provinces who may have been exposed to COVID-19 on flights, often stopping contact tracing at their own borders, an epidemiologist warns. "Canada has a system of contact tracing on the ground, but as soon as it's wheels up and they start pushing a little beverage cart around, then that system…

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Regina is linked to an outbreak at the facility that provides laundry to Saskatchewan hospitals.  By Aug. 9, 18 employees at the K-Bro Linens facility had tested positive for COVID-19.  All of the 11 new reported cases on Aug. 8 were either employees or their close contacts. There are now 30 active cases…

Canadians shouldn't expect a COVID-19 vaccine to be a "silver bullet" that will bring a swift end to the coronavirus pandemic and a return to normal, according to the country's chief public health officer. Dr. Theresa Tam used her briefing on Tuesday in Ottawa to temper expectations about the speed and effectiveness of a vaccine. She reiterated the importance of…

Saskatchewan will send its K-12 students back to school next month without requiring them or their teachers to wear masks and without a plan to reduce class sizes, although the Ministry of Education says it's planning to buy masks in case the COVID-19 situation worsens.  In a hotly-anticipated update Tuesday, the ministry highlighted eight priorities it says are captured in the…