As of March 28, the province of Saskatchewan has 30 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 134.
Six people are in hospital across the province, including three in acute care and three in intensive care units (ICU):
One inpatient case is located in the North, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina.
One ICU case is located in central Saskatchewan, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina.
At least seven cases are a result of local transmission. The rest are travel-related or cluster-related due to exposure at mass gatherings.
Five cases concern individuals 19 years of age and under; all other cases are adults.
Fifty-eight cases are in the 20-44 age range; 49 are in the 45-64 range; and 22 are in the 65-plus range.
Fifty-seven per cent of the cases are males and 43 per cent are females.
Four people have recovered from the virus, though there may be more cases yet to be reported to Public Health. To date, 8,248 COVID-19 tests have been performed by the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory.
Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of confirmed and presumptive cases is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.
Case Increase Connected to Rally
A higher number of cases from the North and central regions is largely attributable to a Christopher Lake snowmobile rally dinner held on Saturday, March 14. One attendee tested positive March 25, and work to contact others at the dinner is now under way.
To date, 18 additional cases have been linked to this event. Each person is self-isolating at home. The outcome of this event demonstrates the importance of physical distancing at this time. Everyone who attended this event – or any large gathering over the past several weeks – should be self-monitoring or self-isolating if directed by local public health authorities.
If you are experiencing any symptoms (fever, cough, sneezing, breathing issues, etc.), please use the online self-assessment tool at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 and call 811.
Virtual Assessments Having an Impact
More than 25,000 telephone assessments were conducted by Saskatchewan physicians in the first 10 days the option was made available to the public. The new practice – introduced March 13 – allows physicians to safely provide advice from a remote location, supports government’s direction for physical distancing and augments the province’s 811 HealthLine service and online assessment tool.
Testing and Contact Tracing Plan
With now more than 8,000 COVID-19 tests conducted by the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL), Saskatchewan ranks number three in the country for travel and non travel-related testing. RRPL will continue to be the province’s source for reliable testing information.
In addition to ongoing testing, the Ministry of Health will deploy additional staff to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to assist with contact tracing. This initiative is aimed at critical identification to better ensure cases are detected and followed up on in a timely manner, and to help prevent further transmission of COVID-19.
Public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.