The CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Association says the reason why we saw such a large increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in Hutterite colonies over the last few days is because of increased testing and contact tracing. Scott Livingstone says there were challenges getting people to comply with the safety protocols a few weeks back when an outbreak in the southwest was first announced, but since then local Public Health leaders and the Hutterian Safety Council worked together to get the message across. Livingstone says because the colonies are fairly isolated, some people thought they were safe. Now, health workers have been invited to these communities to continue testing and contact tracing.

The Premier stated on Tuesday that although at the beginning of July they decided not to provide COVID-19 numbers on weekends anymore because the numbers had been low, that has now been rescinded, after the large numbers this past weekend. It’s back to daily reports of cases from now on.

Lowes Canada reported a positive case of COVID-19 of an employee at its Preston Crossing store, Rona Home and Garden, but there was no Public Service Announcement for it to alert anyone who had been at that location. Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, explains that through contact tracing it was confirmed there was no exposure to the public, so a PSA wasn’t necessary, unlike when one was released for a Saskatoon restaurant recently and for an Emma Lake bar.