Sask. reports 29 new COVID-19 cases, including 17 in the Saskatoon region

There were 29 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Saskatchewan on Tuesday, with 17 of them in the Saskatoon zone.

In a media release, the provincial government said 11 of those 17 cases were from a communal living setting outside of the city.

The Saskatoon zone now comprises 24 communities and surrounding areas after the recent change to reporting regions done by the government.

The other new cases reported Tuesday are in the Regina region (four), the southwest (four), the south-central zone (three) and the northwest (one). The total number of cases is now 1,479.

There were 29 recoveries announced Tuesday, increasing that total so far to 1,294. To date, 20 residents of the province have died due to complications from COVID-19.

There are 165 active cases.

Of the 11 people in hospital, six — three in Saskatoon, one in Regina, one in the southwest and one in the south-central region — are receiving inpatient care.

Five people are in intensive care, with three in Saskatoon, one in the north-central region and one in the southwest.

The government also announced the Saskatchewan Health Authority is attempting to ramp up testing capacity to 3,000 tests per day by the middle of August and 4,000 per day by the beginning of September.

There were 927 tests done in Saskatchewan on Monday, increasing the provincial total so far to 113,972.

Of the total number of cases reported Tuesday, 730 are community contacts, 406 don’t have any known exposures, 208 are travellers, and 135 remain under investigation by local public health officials.

The total includes 64 health-care workers.

To date, there have been 352 cases in the far north area (346 far northwest, six far northeast), 337 in the south region (160 southwest, 166 south-central, 11 southeast), 242 from the Saskatoon area, 232 in the north zone (101 northwest, 66 north-central, 65 northeast), 190 from the central zone (160 central-west, 30 central-east) and 125 from the Regina area. The hometown of one case has yet to be determined.

There have been 471 cases in the 40-to-59 age range, 465 between the ages of 20 and 39, 253 aged 60 to 79, 236 involving people 19 and under, and 54 in the 80-and-over range.