Now’s not the time to reopen economy or relax physical distancing measures: SUN

The analogy Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) president Tracy Zambory describes is simple: You wouldn’t go skating on a pond that has just started to freeze over or you’ll fall through. You need to wait for it to become solid.

That’s why relaxing any physical and social distancing measures or talk of reopening sectors of the economy at this time are premature, she says.

Premier Scott Moe has said that if COVID-19 cases continue to slow, a plan for reopening parts of the economy could come as early as next week.

“As registered nurses, we feel quite anxious about that — anxious in that we feel nervous,” Zambory said Thursday. “We don’t want to get ourselves overly confident right now. Now is not the time. Now is the time to be even more cautious.”

Saskatchewan is just starting to see a “flattening of the curve,” Zambory explained, and strict measures need to remain in place.

She has spoken with about 500 nurses in the past several days who tell her they’re not sure what’s ahead of them. For now, things are OK, but that could change very quickly.

Zambory says with better weather on the way, there’s the temptation to get out, to socialize in larger numbers and even to take unnecessary risks.

“It has the potential to really have a negative effect, (especially) in long-term care,” she said. “The (workers) in long-term care, often the majority of them work in more than one place, so if when the premier talks about the potential of reopening Saskatchewan, it really makes registered nurses feel very anxious that then people will start thinking, ‘Well, I really don’t need to worry about social distancing.’ ”

If that happens, it wouldn’t take much for what Zambory called a “very bad and very difficult situation” to occur.

She’s hoping the provincial government stays cautious for the foreseeable future.

“For nurses to be able to fight on the front lines, we need to stay the course,” she said.