The Saskatchewan Party and the Saskatchewan NDP agree on no mask mandate even with the rising COVID-19 and other flu virus numbers..A reporter asked Health Minister Paul Merriman if any discussions of a mask mandate happened between the government and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr Saqib Shahab..Merriman said he has not discussed bringing back the mask mandate with Shahab..“There’s been no discussions on that at all. And he hasn’t made that recommendation. Not at all,” said Merriman..NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat said the NDP needs more information before they would recommend bringing back the mask mandate..“Not at this time. I think we need to hear from Dr. Shahab and be able to put forward a recommendation after that,” said Mowat..Mowat told the media that the NDP opposition does not receive any information beyond what is disclosed to the public..“People think that the official opposition is privy to additional information beyond what the public gets. We are also operating in a vacuum of information right now,” said Mowat. .“So it would be good to have Dr. Shahab out, to give him a platform to speak about some of these issues, to provide transparency around what recommendations he has made to the minister of Health so that the people of Saskatchewan can make informed decisions about their own risk assessment.”.Merriman responded to the rising flu numbers across the province and why he thinks there is an uptick..“Well, I think this is accumulation of two years of people masking and sanitizing. And we have the accumulation of a couple of years of flu that hasn’t been floating around as much,” said Merriman..Merriman advises parents to keep their children home from school if they are sick..“If a kid is sick in the school system, they should stay home. That’s a general rule across the board,” said Merriman..When asked if school boards could put in their own mask mandates, Merriman responded “they don’t have the powers to do their own mandates.”.Merriman said the “best way is do your personal risk assessment and also make sure if you’re not feeling well to stay home.”.Mowat said the government needs to release more information for people to make a personal risk assessment..“This government’s been claiming we need to make our own individual risk assessment, but at the same time not providing, being forthright with that information that can help people to make their own decisions,” said Mowat..“I think people should get their flu shot if they’re eligible. They get up to date on their COVID shot if eligible,” said Merriman.
