FAKE NEWS: CBC spreads medical misinformation about Saskatchewan Health Minister

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe released a statement at 2:30 pm local time accusing the CBC of spreading medical misinformation about his Health Minister.

"At 9 am today, CBC news posted a story containing the completely inaccurate and irresponsible statement that Saskatchewan’s Health Minister had tested positive for COVID-19," he wrote, "This is not true."

"CBC has been contacted and given ample opportunity to correct this falsehood, but as of now, they have not done so," he added.

At the top of the article, titled "Alberta, Saskatchewan removing public health restrictions 'a bad mistake' right now, experts say," the crown corporation and media organization has since corrected the error, clarifying "An earlier version of this story stated Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman had tested positive for COVID-19 after that province lifted restrictions on July 11. This was incorrect; Merriman has not tested positive for COVID-19."

The article criticized Saskatchewan for lifting all COVID restrictions on July 11, citing public health experts who stated herd immunity had not yet been reached.

Saskatchewan is the first Canadian province to lift all public health restrictions, with Alberta just announcing a two-phase transition that began on July 29.

Experts cited data indicating the delta variant also spread among vaccinated people in other jurisdictions.

Data released by the BC Centre for Disease Control confirmed the Delta variant was present in 60 percent of BC cases as of July 24.

The province reported 96 percent of cases since June came from people with either one dose of a government-approved COVID vaccine or those who remain unvaccinated.