Sask. government issues emergency order so it can move health-care workers around amid COVID-19 surge

The Saskatchewan government hasissued a new emergency order to give itself more flexibilityinschedulingand deployinghealth-care workers.

The government hopes the order, which was announced Monday afternoon, will helpit cope with a surge in COVID-19 cases in the hospitals and elsewhere in the system.

Saskatchewan set an all-time daily record for new COVID-19cases with449 on Monday.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority and health sector unions previously hada letter of understanding that allowed for labour mobility, but it expired when restrictions were lifted during the summer.

The two sides were negotiating over the weekend,but the order suggests they didn't come to an agreement.

A statement from the Ministry of Health saidthe order was necessary given "the urgent and immediate needs of the health-care system."

Last week when Premier Scott Moe raisedthe optionof an emergency order, health care unions were not impressed.

Sandra Seitz, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430, said an ultimatum was the wrong way to go. She said her members are exhausted and the government is not listening to them.

Meanwhile, the Opposition NDP saidthe only reasonMoe's government is doing this today is because it hasfailed to take any of the steps necessary to get the fourthwave of COVID-19 under control.