Saskatchewan’s death toll due to COVID-19 has surpassed 100 after seven people were reported as having perished because of the novel coronavirus in Thursday’s update from the Ministry of Health. One of the fatalities was a person in their 40s from the South East zone, another individual was from the North Central zone in their 60s while the other five deaths were people in their 80s…three from Regina, one from Saskatoon and one from the South West zone. There have now been 105 people die due to COVID-19 in the province since the pandemic was declared in mid-March.

       Otherwise, after two days of sub-200 new cases of the virus in Saskatchewan, Thursday’s update had 238 new cases for a provincial total of 12,832. Saskatoon had 81 of the new cases as Central West was the only one of 13 Saskatchewan zones to not report a new case. The seven-day average for new cases of COVID-19 in the province dropped to 230 Thursday from 243 on Wednesday. That’s the lowest the seven-day average has been since November 25 when it was 213.

Of the 12,832 cases in the province:

• 571 cases are travelers;
• 6,117 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 2,885 have no known exposures; and
• 3,259 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 534 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 2,731 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 4,501 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 3,350 are in the 40-59 age range; 1,683 are in the 60-79 age range; and 562 are in the 80-plus range. Confirmation of age is pending for five cases.
• 50 per cent of the cases are female and 50 per cent are male.
• 105 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 12,832 confirmed cases:

• 3,790 cases are from the Saskatoon area
• 2,836 cases are from the north area (1085 north west, 1,339 north central, 412 north east)
• 2,564 cases are from the Regina area
• 1,457 cases are from the south area (545 south west, 503 south central, 409 south east)
• 1,353 cases are from the far north area (798 far north west, 97 far north central, 458 far north east)
• 788 cases are from the central area (320 central west, 468 central east)
• 44 cases have pending residence information

To date, 396,555 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of December 15, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 244,094 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 339,375 people tested per million population.

On Wednesday, 2,875 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.

Self-isolation period changing

The isolation period for COVID-19 positive individuals is being reduced from 14 to 10 days effective immediately.  Individuals who are already currently in self-isolation should still continue to wait for a call from public health to confirm they are recovered.

Individuals who are self-isolating as a result of being a close contact must continue to self-isolate for 14 days as it can take several days for symptoms to appear.  Once symptoms appear individuals must self-isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms.  Immunocompromised persons should follow the isolation period recommendations of public health and follow up with their physician or oncologist.

New Public Health Measures Take Effect Today

For more information on the public health measures that take effect today (December 17), or to see the Public Health Order, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-measures.

Weekly Reporting of Testing Numbers and Cases for Youth

The trends of COVID-19 cases in school-aged children are being monitored.  The weekly report of cases and testing numbers for children aged 0-19, including data by age and positivity rates, has been posted at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-Safe-Schools-Plan.