Four new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan; total now 253

Saskatchewan announced Monday its lowest single-day total of COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks.

The provincial government revealed there were four new confirmed cases of the virus in the province. That’s the fewest in a single day since March 19, when four cases were reported.

The total in Saskatchewan to date is 253.

For the first time Monday, the province started referring to “active cases.” That’s the total number of cases minus the number of recoveries and the number of deaths.

On Monday, 14 more people were said to be recovered, increasing that total to 81. The number of deaths remained at three.

“Active cases are down by 10 today, from 179 (Sunday) to now 169 active cases,” Premier Scott Moe said during a conference call with reporters.

“That’s just one day, so it’s far too early for us to say whether this is any sort of trend in Saskatchewan, but it is good news and it shows that what we are doing is working. Together we are reducing the spread (and) we are flattening the curve.”

It’s the first time since the virus struck Saskatchewan that the number of recoveries in a day was higher than the number of new cases. The number of cases Monday followed weekend days with more confirmations (18 on Sunday and 11 on Saturday).

“Our numbers keep going up and down, but (they) seem to be fairly low and that’s good,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer. “We need to keep it there.”

A look at the numbers

As of Monday, there are four people in hospital — the same number as was reported Sunday. That includes two people receiving inpatient care in Saskatoon and one person in each of Regina and Saskatoon in intensive care.

The 253 cases include 112 travellers, 77 community contacts (including mass gatherings) and 14 without any known exposures. There also are 50 cases under investigation by local public health.

Of the total number of cases, 127 are from the Saskatoon area, 51 are from the Regina area, 47 reside in the north, 15 live in the south, 10 are from the central region and three are from the far north.

All four of the cases announced Monday are in the Saskatoon region.

In terms of ages, 110 cases are in the 20-to-44 range, 89 are between the ages of 45 and 64, 43 are in the 65-and-over category and 11 are people 19 years of age and under.

More than 14,000 tests have been done, including more than 5,900 in Saskatoon, 3,600 in Regina, 1,900 in the north and 1,400 in the south.

Models to be released

Moe said the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will roll out models Wednesday that will show the public how the authority hopes to handle the pandemic in the future.

“Those are some benchmarks that will be put out there and then it’s on us to improve those benchmarks so that our health system can manage this,” Moe told Gormley earlier Monday.

“It’s on us to take every effort to wash our hands, to practise physical distancing — of which we’re doing a remarkable job in this province, I might add — to bring those numbers down.”

The province is under a state of emergency and the government has issued a number of restrictions it hopes can keep the spread of the virus in check.

Moe told Gormley he’d like the provincial government to be able to ease those restrictions in the near future, but a lot of things would have to happen first.

“We need to see some really good numbers between now and sometime into May before we can even really start having that conversation,” the premier said.

“If something changes with our numbers between now and then, well, then we’re back into it like other areas of North America and the world have been.”

However, if Saskatchewan can continue to show its restrictions have worked, the restrictions could be relaxed.

“It would be imperative for us to move very slowly and very methodically when we are presented with that opportunity to maybe remove a restriction and wait a period of time and watch very intently as to what happens with our positive ID numbers,” Moe said on the conference call. “If they don’t change, then you would look at potentially removing a further restriction.”

More on masks

Shahab was asked if the province was going to encourage the use of non-medical masks to prevent the spread of the virus.

On Monday, Dr. Theresa Tam — Canada’s chief medical health officer — reversed course and said the masks could keep those with the virus from spreading it.

Shahab once again said Saskatchewan residents should rely more on physical distancing, hand-washing and other measures than on masks.

“We live in a context where, for the most part, we can maintain our physical distance in a way that we minimize any exposure, irrespective of whether you wear a mask or not in terms of exposing surfaces that others may touch,” he said.

However, Shahab added that if people want to wear masks, it’s up to them to determine if they can do so in a safe manner for themselves and for others.

SHA talks PPE

SHA CEO Scott Livingstone faced questions about charges that the organization has rationed personal protective equipment — something raised by nurses in the province.

“There has been no direction across the Saskatchewan Health Authority to ration PPE supplies,” Livingstone said. “We are working on PPE supplies and controlling them centrally to ensure that they are available where staff need them when they need them.”

Livingstone admitted there was one instance at the Regina General Hospital, where a supervisor limited staff to two masks per shift. Livingstone said that wasn’t a result of an SHA directive.

He said the authority is not short of any PPE at this time, but noted the SHA has “locked down supplies to ensure that we’re using them appropriately.”