The total number of COVID-19 cases linked to the Brandt Industries workplace in Saskatoon is up to 17 after three new infections were identified from there in Monday’s update from the Ministry of Health. Monday’s provincial report had seven new cases of the novel coronavirus, five from the Saskatoon area…including the three linked to the Brandt Industries workplace…plus one case from each of the Regina and South East zones. With two people having recovered from COVID-19 in Monday’s update, that leaves 145 active cases in Saskatchewan. Overall, there have been 1,814 reported cases of the virus in the province with 1,645 people having recovered. Of the 145 active cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, 27 are from Hutterite colonies with 10 individuals being treated in hospital…one in each of the Regina and South Central zones and the other eight in Saskatoon. Only one patient is in I-C-U in Saskatoon, the rest of the hospitalized cases are receiving inpatient treatment.

Of the 1,814 cases in the province to date:

• 271 cases are travellers;
• 887 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 525 have no known exposures; and
• 131 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 69 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 303 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 591 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 561 are in the 40-59 age range; 298 are in the 60-79 age range; and 61 are in the 80-plus range.
• 50 per cent of the cases are females and 50 per cent are males.
• 24 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
• There are:
  • 439 cases are from the south area (222 south west, 199 south central, 18 south east)
  • 357 cases are from the far north area (349 far north west, 0 far north central, 8 far north east)
  • 353 cases are from the Saskatoon area
  • 271 cases are from the north area (131 north west, 73 north central, 67 north east)
  • 234 cases are from the central area (172 central west, 62 central east)
  • 160 cases are from the Regina area

To date, 173,764 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. As of September 19, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers are available from Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 122,761 people tested per million population. The national rate was 176,074 people tested per million population.

On Sunday, 1,819 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

Failure to Abide by Public Health Orders May Result in Fines

In Saskatchewan and across the country, public health authorities are seeing increasing transmission rates as a result of public and private gatherings that are in contravention of public health orders and guidelines. Public health orders in Saskatchewan specify that individuals must self-isolate upon a confirmed COVID-19 test result and that indoor and outdoor gatherings may have a maximum of 30 people, provided there is enough space to maintain a two metre separation between individuals who are not in the same household. Gathering sizes should be smaller if there isn’t enough space to maintain a physical distance of two metres at all times.

There can be very serious consequences for not following Public Health Orders, including fines. Fines may be $2,000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations, plus a victim surcharge.