The 25th person who succumbed to COVID-19 in Saskatchewan was in their 60s and lived in the Saskatoon zone. That from Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab. The death was reported on Sunday, but no more specifics were given until Tuesday’s provincial update on the novel coronavirus.

Tuesday’s update showed 34 new cases of the novel coronavirus for a total of 2,174. There were 11 recoveries reported for a total of 1,911. That means there are 238 active cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan…nine of them in hospital. Two are in I-C-Us…one in reach of Saskatoon and Regina. The other seven hospitalized infections are receiving inpatient treatment…four in Saskatoon, one in Regina and one in each of the North Central and Central East zones.

Eleven of Tuesday’s new cases are from the Regina area with nine from the North Central zone, eight from Saskatoon, four from the Central West zone and the remaining two cases with locations pending. Public health officials are trying to determine if these new cases are linked to known events or are from new transmissions within communities.

Dr. Shahab also announced that because of an increase in the number of cases recently, the Public Health order on gathering sizes in private homes is being amended from 30 to 15 as of Friday. An individual not in compliance can be fined $2-thousand and for businesses, it’s $10-thousand, plus a victim surcharge. Shahab explains that the rules haven’t changed for businesses, including bars and restaurants, because for the most part, they are following the guidelines and they haven’t been the cause of large transmission events.

On the weekend, there were social media posts about Diva’s Nightclub in Saskatoon, showing a video with a crowded dance floor. Dr. Shahab wouldn’t speak to any individual incident, but stressed that now that it’s getting colder and we are spending more time indoors, we all need to do our part to be safe.

The federal government announced on Tuesday that work continues with the provinces to get rapid test kits to the front line. Shahab says there will be 2 types of rapid testing devices available in a few weeks, but right now it’s still in the planning stage.

Of the 2,174 cases in the province to date:

• 317 cases are travellers;
• 1,066 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 613 have no known exposures; and
• 178 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 78 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 373 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 726 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 658 are in the 40-59 age range; 347 are in the 60-79 age range; and 70 are in the 80-plus range.
• 51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
• 25 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
• There are:
  • 465 cases are from the south area (226 south west, 207 south central, 32 south east)
  • 450 cases are from the Saskatoon area
  • 375 cases are from the far north area (356 far north west, 0 far north central, 19 far north east)
  • 388 cases are from the north area (140 north west, 127 north central, 71 north east)
  • 314 cases are from the central area (187 central west, 127 central east)
  • 230 cases are from the Regina area

To date, 218,959 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. As of October 11, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers are available from Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 151,482 people tested per million population. The national rate was 217,924 people tested per million population.

On Monday, 2,037 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

Note Correction: an incorrect number of total tests was reported in Monday’s COVID-19 case news releases. There were 684 tests that were doubled counted, therefore the correct total number of tests performed on October 11th was 2,553.

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 contravention of public health orders and guidelines, particularly as a result of public and private gatherings. There can be very serious consequences for not following Public Health Orders, including fines in cases where negligence or misconduct have been found. Fines may be $2,000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations, plus a victim surcharge.

Everyone should continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Do not attend or host any events if you are experiencing symptoms, even if they are mild.