The plan to reopen Saskatchewan’s economy is coming too fast, according to some leaders in northern Saskatchewan. While big cities in the province have seen a drop in active cases of COVID-19, some northern communities are in the midst of outbreaks.
At least three communities — La Loche, Patuanak and Beauval — are experiencing outbreaks according to The 155 Collective, a group of volunteers working with 24 Indigenous communities to help control COVID-19. “We’re not scrambling to reopen, we’re scrambling to control the outbreak up here, so we’re totally opposite to where the rest of the province is,” said Rick Laliberte, incident commander with the organization.