'Fall and winter of misery': Sask.'s top doctor says there may not be large Thanksgiving, Christmas gatherings
CBC
As Saskatchewan steadily breaks COVID-19 records, the province's top doctor warned of a grim end to the year while the health minister urged residents to "get vaccinated as soon as possible," reiterating that vaccines are the way out of the pandemic.
During an afternoon news conference on Wednesday, Paul Merriman said new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are "overwhelmingly" among those who have not yet received their shots.
Merriman last addressed the media on Aug. 25, when he had said that although there were signs the province was entering a fourth wave of the pandemic, the provincial government was not prepared to mandate vaccinations.
Since then, 90 people with COVID-19 have died in Saskatchewan, the number of people hospitalized has increased by 203 and ICU admissions have risen by 45.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan recorded one of its worst days in the pandemic, breaking multiple COVID-19-related records.
COVID-related hospitalizations and ICU admissions in the province have nearly tripled in the last month, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
"The choice to not get vaccinated is not just affecting you," Merriman said, adding that "life is going to get more difficult" for people not yet vaccinated, as the province's proof-of-vaccination policy takes effect Friday.
Kayla DeMong fought tears as she described the dire conditions on the front lines, pleading for more help from the province as staff at the harm reduction site she leads try to keep up with the recent spike in overdoses.
A B.C. woman who has been detained by U.S. immigration officials for 11 days, after trying to enter the country, will be released on Friday, according to her father.
Toronto is doubling the number of automated speed cameras on city streets.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange is alleging the former CEO of Alberta Health Services was unwilling and unable to implement the government's plan to break up the health authority, became "infatuated" with her internal investigation into private surgical contracts and made "incendiary and inaccurate allegations about political intrigue and impropriety" before she was fired in January.
Hudson's Bay Company filed for creditor protection last week, saying it's struggling to pay landlords, vendors and employees — and it's a process that could lead to the sale or closure of Canada's oldest company.
Still sleepy from this week's time change?
RCMP say a man died while in police custody on Wednesday in downtown Yellowknife, and Alberta RCMP are investigating the incident.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal officials left an hours-long meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying they feel more positive about the Canada-U.S. trading relationship after weeks of bad blood and heated rhetoric.
The Alberta government wants to cut more than $400 million in the fees it pays to doctors, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Canadian Press.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada's incoming prime minister needs to immediately and urgently negotiate a way to avoid China's planned tariffs on Canadian canola — even before an election call.
A judge has sentenced a 48-year-old man to life in prison for brutally stabbing his ex-wife and daughter to death in North York in 2022.
Ontario is seeing a massive surge in measles cases as an ongoing outbreak spreads in the province among mostly unvaccinated people.
Prince Edward Island's Affordable Housing Development Program fell short of its intended purpose, the province's Auditor General says.