Sask. records one new COVID case, 22 more recoveries

Saskatchewan reported Monday its lowest single-day total of new COVID-19 cases since early July.

In a media release, the provincial government said there was one new case, in the southwest area. The last time there was just one case reported in a day was July 7.

“This is very positive for our province,” Premier Scott Moe said during a conference call with reporters. “We have seen slightly higher numbers over the past few days, but most of these cases have been found through very active and aggressive testing and contact tracing, much of it in our Hutterite communities.

“There have only been about 10 new cases in the past five days in the remainder of the province and that’s out of many thousands of tests.”

In the four previous days, the province had reported 97 new cases, 87 of which were in communal living settings. There were 40 new cases announced over the weekend, with 35 of those in communal living situations.

The case announced Monday increased the province’s total to date to 1,581.

There were 22 more recoveries announced, raising that total so far to 1,387. To date, 22 residents of the province have died due to complications from COVID-19.

There now are 172 active cases in Saskatchewan, with 113 of those in communal living settings.

“We continue to see a variable case number, but overall, our case numbers remain low throughout the province,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer.

“If you look at our new website with the updated geographies, you can appreciate that many small geographies have had no cases over the past two weeks or have no current active cases.”

Four people were receiving inpatient care in hospital as of Monday, with two in the southwest, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina. Four people are in intensive care in Saskatoon.

Of the total number of cases, 64 are health-care workers.

The total comprises 809 community contacts (including mass gatherings), 470 people without any known exposures, 224 travellers, and 78 individuals who are under investigation by local public health officials.

There have been 405 cases from the south area (207 southwest, 187 south-central, 11 southeast), 352 from the far north region (346 far northwest, six far northeast), 252 in the north area (119 northwest, 68 north-central, 65 northeast), 247 from the Saskatoon area, 194 in the central area (161 central-west, 33 central-east) and 131 from the Regina region.

The total includes 505 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 491 between the ages of 40 and 59, 271 from 60 to 79 years of age, 259 involving people 19 and under, and 55 in the 80-and-over range.

There were 1,043 tests conducted Sunday, increasing the province’s total to date to 123,288.

The government announced Monday that changes are coming to testing.

The province is aiming to have 4,000 tests done per day by September and new drive-through testing facilities in Regina and Saskatoon — which require only the presentation of a health card, not a referral — could help with that goal.