Until there is an effective vaccine or most of us have some level of immunity, we will have to continue with physical distancing. Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer says because everyone is complying with the restrictions from COVID-19, we are flattening the curve and even bending it downward, but that doesn’t mean physical distancing will come to an end any time soon.
Dr. Saqib Shahab says the government will decide when to slowly lift restrictions for businesses and services but the same requirements will remain – staying at least 2 metres apart, staying home and washing your hands often. The weather is getting warmer though and people want to be outside, which Dr. Shahab says is okay as long as everyone keeps at least 2 metres apart when you are in a public area and not in your own backyard.
Public playground structures are still taped off, Shahab says, because researchers are still learning about how long the virus can live outside, so until there is better information, it’s best that children stay away from them.
The Numbers From Monday:
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Saskatchewan went down over the weekend and remained at four in today’s (Monday’s) update from the province. Of the four cases in hospital, one is in Intensive Care. Otherwise, Saskatchewan reported four more people have recovered from the novel coronavirus for a total of 238. That is out of a total of 316 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 after one new, confirmed case was added today (Monday). With the death toll from the virus holding at four people, that leaves 74 cases in the province considered to be active.
The breakdown of the 316 cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan show 134 are travel-related, 132 cases are contacts or linked to mass gatherings, 30 have no known exposures and 20 are under investigation by local public health. The gender split continues to be 52 per cent male as opposed to 48 per cent female. Also staying the same is the number of health care workers in the province who have contracted the novel coronavirus. However, not all 35 instances are related to health care.
By region, 149 of the 316 cases are from the Saskatoon area, 70 are from the Regina area, 60 cases are from the north region, 15 from the south, 11 cases are from the central region and 11 are from the far north. The demographic breakdown shows 114 cases to be in 20-39 age range, 106 in the 40-59 group, 63 cases are in the 60-79 age range, nine are in the 80-plus group and 24 cases are in the 19-and-under age range.
Saskatchewan continues to have the second-highest rate of testing per capita among the provinces with 24,412 COVID-19 tests having reportedly been performed.
