If the past week has shown Saskatchewan residents anything, it is that COVID-19 has not gone away in the province, and outbreaks can flare up overnight.
And flare up they certainly have recently.
July 23, the province reported 42 new cases.
July 24 there were 27 new cases announced.
July 25 it was 37 new cases.
July 26 another day with 42 new cases.
And so it has gone.
So far the new outbreaks have been mainly in the southwest and west central regions of the province according to the daily report issued by the province.
For Yorkton that is a good thing.
However, details on just where people are located who test positive are rather vague at best, which seems to be a huge disservice to the people of Saskatchewan.
One can appreciate the need for a significant level of privacy for individuals in terms of health care, but there is also a need for the public at-large to be aware of localized situations regarding COVID-19.
No one would go as far as to suggest the name of positive cases be announced, but there is value in telling the public a resident of a particular community has tested positive, or that someone is in a local hospital with COVID-19. It is potentially even more important that we be given that information today, than when the province was at the height of the pandemic lockdown.
There is recognition by the province that people are growing weary of being COVID-careful.
Wearing masks and constantly dowsing hands in sanitizer, standing in lines six-feet apart and following arrows on store floors really is not all that hard, or imposing to help ensure a level of community safety, but they do come with a level of frustration that can add to the stress of day-to-day life in 2020.
In a community such as Yorkton where to-date there has been no officially announced cases there is also a feeling among many that we are safe, so we can be more lax in our preventative measures.
What we have been, so far at least, is amazingly fortunate.
But that fortune can be fleeting if we are not careful.
That is why greater transparency in terms of where positive tests are being found is needed. A confirmed case in any community would make the COVID-19 pandemic much more real for residents. It would snap us all back to a greater level of care and prevention knowing the disease is literally at our doorsteps. It would afford a community the ability to respond in a measured and safe way to the heightened threat.
Diligence in this case would be boosted with a greater sharing of knowledge by the province to local communities.
