Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Visitation guidelines for a number of facilities in Saskatchewan will be changing starting Tuesday.
In a media release Friday, the provincial government said guidelines for acute and long-term care homes, personal care homes and group homes are being amended.
The announcement was made at the same time Saskatchewan reported one new case of COVID-19 and 10 more recoveries. The new case, which is in the far north, increased the provincial total to date to 796.
According to the government, the new visitation guidelines will permit two family members or support people to provide assistance to patients and residents of care homes.
Only one family member or support person can be present in the facility at a time.
However, two people can be present at a time — provided physical distancing can be maintained — for critical care/intensive care patients, end of life/palliative care patients or residents, and maternal services units (maternal and postpartum units, neonatal intensive care units, pediatric intensive care units, or pediatric units).
Family members and support people must follow safety requirements that already are in place, including the wearing of medical-grade masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene and so on.
The new guidelines apply to patients, outpatients, clients and residents in all Saskatchewan Health Authority facilities, long-term care homes and affiliate organizations, personal care homes, and Ministry of Social Services group homes.
“We made several changes early in the pandemic event in order to protect our most at-risk populations, including visitation restrictions, staff and visitor health checks at point of entry, and continuous masking in health-care settings,” Health Minister Jim Reiter said in the release.
“As we see more of our economy reopening and additional health services resuming, we will take the same careful, safe approach to expanding family presence guidelines and ensuring that our loved ones in care continue to be protected remains our No. 1 priority, while supporting the mental and emotional well-being of those in care.”
A look at the numbers
The recoveries announced Friday mean there have been 711 reported so far in Saskatchewan. To date, 14 residents of the province have died due to complications from the coronavirus.
There are 71 active cases in Saskatchewan, with 40 in the far north, 18 in the south, eight in the north and five in Saskatoon.
Three people — two in the north and one in Saskatoon — are in intensive care. One individual is receiving inpatient care in Saskatoon.
Of the total number of cases, 479 are community contacts, 165 are travellers, 109 don’t have any known exposures and 43 are being investigated by local public health officials. To date, 55 health-care workers have contracted the virus.
There have been 335 cases in the far north, 187 from the Saskatoon area, 118 from the north, 80 in the Regina area, 64 in the south and 12 from the central region.
The total includes 278 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 249 between the ages of 40 and 59, 132 in the 60-to-79 range, 116 involving people 19 and under, and 21 in the 80-and-over range.
The 548 tests performed Thursday increased the province’s total so far to 67,791.
More to come.
