Sask. health minister says he takes responsibility, but stops short of direct apology

After disappearing from the media radar for more than a month, Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman was grilled by journalists on Wednesday about his whereabouts since Aug. 25 and his responsibility during the province's fourth wave of COVID-19.

On Tuesday Saskatchewan recorded one of its worst days in the COVID-19 pandemic, while breaking another ICU record on Wednesday.

"I absolutely do take responsibility for everything, the good, the bad and everything in between that happens within the health care system," said Merriman, who stopped short of an apology when asked about it by reporters.

Saskatchewan's health minister said he takes all his responsibilities as well as the current COVID-19 situation seriously, even though he hasn't been addressing the media in person for over a month. 

"There hasn't been a day this year where I haven't been in contact with my officials, with my chief of staff, with people within the healthcare system," he said.

"It's the first thing that I wake up to in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to bed if I happen to sleep that night."

When asked about his specific whereabouts in the last couple of weeks, Merriman said he has been in Saskatoon and Regina, dealing with COVID-19 as well as non-pandemic related health care issues.