Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili says the minister should provide an answer for what he called “recent communications breakdowns” in the handling of the La Loche outbreak and the delay in notifying the public about the Lloydminster outbreak. Meili says when the government claimed the La Loche outbreak was under control, it in fact wasn’t. He suggests that message was also very troublesome because if you are talking to the community in a don’t worry about it fashion, then it is downplaying the seriousness of the issue.

Meili noted that the Saskatchewan Health Authority said the Ministry of Health was notified of the Lloydminster outbreak sometime between April 26th and April 27th, but the public was not notified until the 29th.

Health Minister Responds:

Saskatchewan’s Health Minister Jim Reiter agrees it shouldn’t have taken from Monday to Wednesday of last week for the Premier and the public to find out. He explains the local Medical Health Officer reported the outbreak in an email on Monday, which was received on Tuesday. It then went through review and was sent to Minister Reiter Tuesday night. He let Executive Council and the Premier know on Wednesday morning and the public was informed that day. Reiter says since then, the chain of communication has been condensed, which was apparent with the Prince Albert outbreak in Victoria Hospital with the public being informed within hours.

The NDP also said the government reported the La Loche outbreak was under control, but Reiter says that isn’t true.
One of the local doctors said it was under control, but added that there were still concerns.