Jamie Nye: Facts are necessary to truly understand what we need to do

Can we thank Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer enough for giving it to us straight?

On Wednesday, as Saskatchewan declared a provincial state of emergency, Dr. Shaqib Shahab laid out exactly what he and other professionals are expecting in our province with the spread of COVID-19 and why these measures are so important.

The reality of a vaccine is still a year away, so in the meantime, the spread can be slowed by heeding the advice of social distancing, working from home and self-isolating if you’ve travelled.

Shahab said it straight, that 30 to 70 per cent of us could get the coronavirus. But spreading transmissions over a year to 18 months will be able to be handled by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Ignoring warnings could lead to a drastic spike and an immediate strain that, as Dr. Shahab said, no health-care system in the world could handle.

But I appreciate the honesty. Only with facts and hearing it straight will we truly understand how to help our health-care system, our families and our communities.