Rosthern Doctor, Jess Melle, and his wife contracted COVID-19 from a recent trip to Alberta, leading to the closure of the town's medical clinic (seen here) and hospital. (Rosthern Medical Clinic/ Facebook)

By CKOM

COVID-19

Rosthern doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 saw 15 patients

Mar 22, 2020 | 12:41 PM

On Saturday, it was announced that the Rosthern Medical Clinic and the town’s hospital are being shut down due to one of their doctors contracting COVID-19.

In a post on the medical clinic’s Facebook page that same day, Doctor Jess Melle confirmed that he and his wife contracted the virus during a recent trip to Alberta.

On Sunday, Dr. Melle made a post on his personal Facebook page detailing the number of patients he had seen that week. The post was then shared to the medical clinic’s Facebook page.

“I am only posting this because it is important information. I saw about 15 people between Monday and Tuesday,” he said in the post.

“None of the people that I saw qualify as “close contact” – meaning 15 or more minutes less than six feet away. All of my contacts will be reached by public health.”

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He says the only reason he saw this many patients was because he “volunteered to take on an extra 14-hour overnight call shift Monday night to shield a pregnant colleague from possible contact.”

In the post he also announced he will be shutting off his Facebook due to the bullying he and his family have been receiving since the news went public.

“Fear mongering and misinformation is not beneficial. My family is decimated and in shambles over this internet bullying,” he said.

“It seems lost on everyone that we are recovering from an illness that has all of you terrified that it may kill you. Well we HAVE IT! Please stop attacking us.”

Melle ends his post saying anyone who has anymore questions can contact the Saskatchewan Health Authority directly.

ckom