Six new COVID cases, 20 more recoveries; Sask. gov’t updates total from colonies

The Government of Saskatchewan says there have been 601 COVID-19 cases recorded in communal living settings like Hutterite colonies since the province started releasing case numbers.

That represents nearly 37 per cent of the province’s total number of cases to date.

In a media release Friday — when it also announced six new cases and 20 more recoveries — the government said the data about such cases included in previous releases wasn’t intended to show a cumulative total.

“Earlier positive cases in communal living settings were included in regular positive case counts,” the government said. “Cases on colonies were not reported separately until June 18, when an outbreak was declared in the RM of Maple Creek.”

There currently are 134 active cases in Saskatchewan, including 85 in communal living situations.

The number of active cases in the province is at its lowest point since July 19, when there were 129 reported.

The six new cases include two each from the northwest and southwest zones and one each from the northeast and Saskatoon regions.

One out-of-province case previously counted in Saskatchewan’s total has been removed; the updated total is 1,595.

The 20 recoveries announced Friday increase that total so far to 1,439. To date, 22 residents of the province have died due to COVID-19 complications.

Five people are in hospital in Saskatoon, including four in intensive care.

The total number of cases includes 821 community contacts, 477 people without any known exposures, 229 travellers and 68 people who are under investigation by local public health officials.

The total also includes 65 health-care workers.

So far, there have been 411 cases from the south area (211 southwest, 189 south-central, 11 southeast), 352 in the far north area (346 far northwest, six far northeast), 257 from the north region (123 northwest, 68 north-central, 66 northeast), 250 in the Saskatoon zone, 194 from the central area (161 central-west, 33 central-east) and 131 in the Regina region.

The total comprises 513 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 491 between the ages of 40 and 59, 275 in the 60-to-79 range, 261 involving people 19 and under, and 55 aged 80 and over.

There were 1,272 tests performed in Saskatchewan on Thursday, raising the total in the province to date to 127,896.