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With only four new cases of COVID-19 reported by the provincial government and 14 more recoveries, the number of active cases in Saskatchewan continues to decline.
However, that doesn’t mean the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is taking its foot off the gas.
On Tuesday, the SHA announced it was on track to have staff at long-term care homes and personal care homes cohorted by April 28. That means staff will only be able to work at one facility, eliminating the risk of spreading COVID-19 between homes.
Scott Livingstone, the authority’s CEO, said this is the first time staff across the province will be cohorted.
“With such a large and varied workforce spread over such a sizable geography and service normally dependent on co-ordinating staff between multiple sites, achieving this will be no small feat,” said Livingstone.
The SHA and the provincial government already have implemented new requirements for screening and masking of staff in long-term care homes.
The authority also announced it has signed a Letter of Understanding (LOU) with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) and five health-care unions “to support the creation of a temporary Labour Pool and the cohorting of staff to address health care needs related to COVID-19.”
The SHA said that could include the temporary assignment of staff within a single facility or community or moving staff to another facility or community as needed.
Livingstone said the health authority has also established an occupational health and safety hotline and email address for questions and comments related to personal protective equipment on COVID-19.
In addition to more measures to protect those most vulnerable in the province, Livingstone said the SHA is also working on testing.
Earlier in the outbreak, Premier Scott Moe said he wanted the SHA to be able to do 1,500 tests in a day. Livingstone said the province’s capacity to test right now is higher than that; however, daily testing has gone down. The province’s numbers indicate only 399 tests were performed on Monday.
“We’re just not seeing people show up with symptoms of COVID-19. We’re also seeing, in some cases, a drop in the number of calls to 811 in other areas,” said Livingstone.
The authority is working to expand testing. Livingstone said the authority is working on a plan to increase testing beyond just people with symptoms who seek it out.
He said the SHA is also focusing on new testing technologies that will speed up contact tracing, and is working on a pilot project with new technology for temperature screening.
“You can imagine that these are not simple or easy measures, but these measures are needed and necessary and we’re making every effort to put them in place as soon as possible,” said Livingstone.
He explained there are four testing sites in the province currently, in Meadow Lake, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Regina, but he wants to increase that.
Three more testing sites were added in the past week: Assiniboia, Kindersley and Swift Current. There also are 13 on-reserve testing sites located in the north.
“It’s not just about testing today, it’s about what is our testing capacity going to be like as we continue to monitor and approach our COVID response,” he said.
Livingstone explained testing capacity and contact tracing will be important as the province slowly tries to open up the economy again.
The four new cases bring the total to date to 320, while a total of 252 people have been declared recovered. Four people have died to date.
The number of active cases dropped to 64, its lowest mark since it was at 52 on March 22.
There are five people in hospital in the province. Two people in Saskatoon and one each in Regina and in the north are receiving inpatient care, while one person is in intensive care in Regina.
The 320 cases in the province comprise 135 travellers, 134 who are community contacts (mass gatherings included), 31 people who don’t have any known exposures, and 20 people who are under investigation by local public health officials.
Of the total, 150 cases are from the Saskatoon area, 71 are from the Regina area, 60 reside in the north, 15 are from the south, 13 are from the far north and 11 live in the central region.
The total number of cases includes 35 health-care workers, who may not have contracted the virus in a work setting.
In terms of age groups, 25 cases involve people 19 and under, 116 cases are in the 20-to-39 range, 107 are between the ages of 40 and 59, 63 are in the 60-to-79 range, and nine are 80 and over.
The active cases include 29 people in Saskatoon, 14 in Regina, 11 in the far north, seven in the north, two in the central region and one in the south.
The 399 tests done in the province Monday brings that total to date to 24,811.
