A person in their 80s from the North West zone is the 45th person to die in Saskatchewan due to COVID-19. Otherwise, Saturday’s update from the Ministry of Health had better raw numbers from the previous two days as there were 197 new cases of the novel coronavirus…reducing the seven-day average to 234…plus 137 people recovering, leading to an increase of 59 active cases in the province to 3,322. Of those active cases, 106 are in the hospital…five fewer than in Friday’s report…with 18 people receiving treatment in an I-C-U.

Two of Saturday’s new cases have pending residence information with the Far North Central being the only one of the 13 Saskatchewan zones to not have a new case of COVID-19. Of the remaining 195 new cases, 73 are in Regina; 56 in Saskatoon; 17 in the North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, and 16 in the South West zone, which includes Swift Current. Four of five cases with previous pending residence information were assigned to the North Central zone with the other going to the North West zone. Overall, besides 41 deaths, there have been 7,888 reported cases of the virus in the province with 4,521 people having recovered.

Of the 7,888 cases in the province:

• 466 cases are travelers;
• 3,502 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 1,713 have no known exposures; and
• 2,207 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 244 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 1,651 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 2,803 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 2,086 are in the 40-59 age range; 1,054 are in the 60-79 age range; and 289 are in the 80-plus range. Confirmation of age is pending for five cases.
• 50 per cent of the cases are females and 50 per cent are males.
• 45 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 7,888 confirmed cases:

• 2,384 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 1,631 cases are from the north area (571 north west, 775 north central, 285 north east)
• 1,346 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,032 cases are from the south area (388 south west, 389 south central, 255 south east)
• 870 cases are from the far north area (581 far north west, 79 far north central, 210 far north east)
• 599 cases are from the central area (269 central west, 330 central east)
• 26 cases have pending residence information

To date, 337,410 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of November 26, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 216,534 people tested per million population. The national rate was 299,608 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 3,359 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.

Public Health Measures

Community transmission can happen quickly and impact multiple settings.

• A recent outbreak on a teenage hockey team resulted in nine players and one coach testing positive. Multiple teams are currently self-isolating as a result.
• A recent outbreak at a curling bonspiel resulted in positive cases on teams from several cities and towns across the province.
• Positive cases among attendees at a recent funeral has led to the potential exposure of more than 200 people.
• Recently, 17 nurses working in one hospital were required to self-isolate after being identified as close contacts to positive cases linked to sporting events and community transmission.

The extensive amount of investigation and contact tracing as a result of these events causes delayed notification of possible exposure resulting in further transmission.

With significant outbreaks continuing to occur among larger gatherings and sporting events, the public is urged to follow the public health orders in place and are reminded these orders are enforceable.

For more information on the current public health measures or to see the Public Health Order, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19.