Sask. has 14 new cases of COVID-19; total now at 66

Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer believes the province is at a pivotal point in its battle with COVID-19.

The province announced Monday that it had 14 new cases, bringing the total in Saskatchewan to date to 66. But Dr. Saqib Shahab said the majority of those are travel-related (and steps have been taken to ensure travellers self-isolate upon their return to Saskatchewan) or are connected to large events (and those events no longer are permitted in the province).

Shahab’s hope is that the steps Saskatchewan has taken in terms of people staying at home or social distancing when outside will show progress against the potential spread of the virus.

“If we can sustain this, we can keep our curve flat — but it has to be sustained,” he said during a media conference at the Saskatchewan Legislature.

“We’ll have to do a check-in at two weeks to see how things are going but I think this is a critical point for us because we still do not have any evidence of community transmission and we need to see for how long we can sustain this absence of community transmission through all of the things that all of us are doing collectively.”

Sixty-five of Saskatchewan’s cases are confirmed and one case is presumptive positive. Two of the cases are between the ages of five and 19, while all of the others are adults.

Two of the people who tested positive have been hospitalized for issues not connected to COVID-19.

So far, 5,269 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. To date, there have been 30 confirmed cases in Saskatoon, 20 in Regina, eight in the central area of the province, five in the south and three in the north.

Shahab and Premier Scott Moe once again preached social distancing during the media conference, but both also encouraged people to go outside if they don’t have any symptoms.

“Use good old-fashioned Saskatchewan common sense in ensuring that you are staying away from people,” Moe said. “If people do stop to talk, make sure that you are keeping that (one- to two-metre) separation.”

The province continues to ask those who have symptoms — such as a fever or a cough — to self-isolate and use the self-assessment tool to see if they need to be tested.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority now has testing sites set up in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current and Weyburn. There also are 19 sites in the north and six in rural testing sites.

All travellers returning to the province from international destinations — including the United States — have to self-isolate for 14 days under newly implemented regulations. Those who have been in close contact with someone who has the virus also must self-isolate.

For those who do, the province recommended:

• Do not go to work or school;
• Do not go to public areas, including places of worship, stores, shopping malls and restaurants;
• Cancel or reschedule non-urgent appointments; let them know you are on self-isolation;
• Do not take buses, taxis or ride-sharing where you would be in contact with others;
• Do not have visitors in your home;
• Ask family/friends to drop off food or use delivery/pickup services for errands such as grocery shopping.

Those who go outside and who don’t have symptoms are reminded to maintain good hand hygiene and avoid contact with shared surfaces like handrails, pedestrian crosswalk buttons and playground equipment.

Inside apartment buildings or condominiums, the health authority suggested avoiding potentially crowded areas like elevators and hallways if it’s impossible to maintain social distancing.

“Right now, I’m encouraging that we don’t even visit in person,” Shahab said. “We can stay in touch, we can wave to each other when we are on walks. But I think this is the time to really be disciplined about that.

“We really want to calm things down to prevent any risk as much as we can of community transmission. That would be the return of all this effort.”

A number of measures instituted by the province took effect Monday, including the closures of such things as restaurants, recreation facilities, entertainment facilities and dentists’ offices.

There are some discrepancies in terms of restrictions between levels of government, with some municipal governments instituting different plans than the province.

Moe said he and other premiers were to speak later Monday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the goal of aligning their plans and getting some clarity between the provinces and the federal government.

That same notion applies when it comes to the province and to towns and cities in Saskatchewan.

“To have a patchwork among five, 10, 20, 30 municipalities — rural and urban — in the province of Saskatchewan doesn’t advance that interest of providing that clear alignment of restrictions and regulations across the nation,” Moe said.