Sask. planning to send roughly 2-4 COVID-19 patients per day to Ont. starting next week

The provincial government plans to increase the number of COVID-19 patients its transferring to Ontario starting early next week.

It's anticipated that roughly two to four patients will be transferred each day for several days, Marlo Pritchard, president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency and head of Saskatchewan's Emergency Operations Centre, said during a COVID-19 technical briefing on Friday.

Earlier this week, six COVID-19 patients were transferred to Ontario, and there are plans to move three additional patients  — one on Friday, the second on Saturday and the third on Sunday, according to a news release from the province sent on Thursday.

However, Pritchard said the number of transfers could change depending on factors such as ICU capacity, clinical assessments, identifying appropriate patients, aircraft availability and severe weather or other unforeseen events.

Pritchard said the provincial government will continue to announce confirmed patient transfers.

"We acknowledge that there is a great deal of planning that is done by critical care teams, both in Saskatchewan and Ontario, in order to facilitate these transfers and ensure they are done safely," he said.

"These plans are continually in motion but they are subject to change and we are committed to providing confirmed information on transfers of the Saskatchewan patients." 

There was some confusion early on with Saskatchewan's plans to move ICU patients out of province.

After six patients were moved, Ontario Health said it was prepared to take at least six more. 

However during a technical briefing on Wednesday, Pritchard would not confirm whether more patients would be transferred out of the province or when.

It came as a surprise to doctors in Saskatchewan and Ontario, with some health-care workers from both provinces voicing their concerns on social media — claiming it was a purposeful decision to pull back on patient transfers.

The provincial government said in a statement on Thursday that its ICU capacity is assessed on an hourly basis by medical professionals and other experts. 

"The issue of out-of-province transfers is an extremely complicated process which requires a high level of technical consideration, medical oversight and review," the statement read. 

It also said unverified social media posts should be disregarded.