Premier Scott Moe believes there are 2 reasons why the COVID-19 numbers have risen so rapidly in La Loche and area. Of the 34 new cases announced on Monday, 29 are in the far north, which is over 60 per cent of the active cases. Moe says the transmission from these recent numbers would have been 10 days to 2 weeks ago when physical distancing wasn’t the priority it is today in those communities, and also because there is so much more testing and contact tracing being done. He believes it shouldn’t be unexpected to see relatively large numbers from the northwest.
The Premier realizes that the large number of cases relative to when the re-open plan was announced may make it seem like the province isn’t ready, but he stresses that the outbreaks are in specific areas and both Lloydminster and La Loche and area which aren’t part of the re-open plan yet. On Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority will outline a plan for the resumption of some services and surgical procedures.
As Phase 1 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan began on Monday, which allows previously restricted medical services to fire back up and provides specific guidelines for parks and campgrounds, boat launches, fishing and for golf courses.
Restrictions around social distancing, of maintaining a 2 metre space between yourself and everyone else, is still in play and public and private gatherings are still limited – they cannot be more than 10 people. Limits on gathering sizes still apply to those planning to form an extended household group with one or two families and friends. 182 of the cases of COVID 19 that have occurred in Saskatchewan are due to community contacts which includes mass gatherings.
Here are the numbers:
Of the 467 cases in the province:
138 cases are travellers;
182 are community contacts (mass gatherings included);
40 have no known exposures; and
107 are under investigation by local public health.
Overall in Saskatchewan:
43 cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
162 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 110 from the Far North, 93 from the North, 76 from the Regina area, 15 from the South, and 11 from the Central region.
51 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
167 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 152 are in the 40-59 age range; 82 are in the 60-79 age range; and 15 are in the 80-plus range.
49 per cent of the cases are males and 51 per cent are females.
Six deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
To date, 32,334 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. As of May 2, 2020, when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 25,116 people tested per million population, which exceeds the national rate of 23,770 people tested per million population.
