
Alabama health officials warn Saskatchewan: don't repeat our mistakes in the COVID-19 battle
CBC
It has one of the country's highest COVID-19 infection rates and lowest vaccination rates.
Hospital admissions are soaring, with many surgeries and other medical care cancelled or delayed. For weeks, its medical community has called for indoor mask mandates and vaccine passports to curb the spread of COVID-19, but its political leadership repeatedly resists those calls, citing individual freedoms. This describes the situation in Saskatchewan, but also the U.S. state of Alabama. Alabama health professionals interviewed by CBC News say their case numbers began to spike earlier than Saskatchewan, but the province is trending in their direction. They say Saskatchewan should learn from the unnecessary tragedy and death sweeping their state. They say the solution is simple — leaders should make decisions based on expert advice and evidence, not political calculations. "Vaccine passports and indoor masking mandates — those are the two things that could make the most difference right now. We know that. The science tells us that," said Dr. Paul Erwin, dean of the school of public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.More Related News