Gov’t says Saskatoon gathering responsible for 17 COVID cases, with more likely

A recent social gathering in Saskatoon has produced 17 cases of COVID-19.

The provincial government made the announcement in a media release Tuesday, two days after reporting the get-together was responsible for a number of cases.

“Contact tracing efforts are underway, and it is likely that other cases will be identified before this chain of transmission is resolved,” the release said.

The province reported 10 new cases Tuesday, with eight of those from the Saskatoon area. The other two were in the central-east zone.

The Saskatoon region has recorded 55 cases since Sept. 1; its total now stands at 315.

The total number of cases in the province to date is 1,741.

There were 12 recoveries reported Tuesday, hiking that total so far to 1,616. It’s the first time since Sept. 2 the number of recoveries reported in a day exceeded the number of new cases.

To date, 24 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

The number of active cases being reported stands at 101, with 33 of those in communal living settings.

Four people are receiving inpatient care in hospital in Saskatoon.

The total comprises 862 community contacts (including mass gatherings), 519 cases without any known exposures, 260 travellers and 100 that are being investigated by public health officials.

To date, 69 cases have involved health-care workers.

There have been 431 cases from the south area (221 southwest, 197 south-central, 13 southeast), 357 in the far north (349 far northwest, eight far northeast), 315 from the Saskatoon area, 270 in the north region (131 northwest, 73 north-central, 66 northeast), 229 from the central area (168 central-west, 61 central-east) and 139 in the Regina region.

The total comprises 570 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 532 between the ages of 40 and 59, 293 from age 60 to 79, 288 involving people 19 and under, and 58 in the 80-and-over range.

There were 1,658 tests done in Saskatchewan on Monday, raising the province’s total to date to 161,933.