Another 19 cases of COVID-19 reported on Friday

The Saskatchewan Legislature. -- Herald File Photo

The province reported another 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

The cases included 12 in Saskatoon, four in Regina and three in the Central West zone.

Six of the cases reported in Saskatoon have been linked to Brandt Industries. The remaining cases are linked to known cases that are being tracked by public health officials.

Of the 1,776 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 113 are considered active.

The recovered number now sits at 1,639.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 remains at 24.

Investigations completed thus far have found that 24 of the 113 current active cases are from communal living settings.

According to the new and Active Case breakdown, Prince Albert—the North Central 2 zone—currently has one active case.

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has no active cases. North Central 3, consisting of communities south of the city, also has no active cases.

The most active cases are 61 in the Saskatoon zone and in second place is the Central East zone with 19, in third is the Regina zone with 10 active cases.

Five people are currently receiving inpatient care in Saskatoon.

The total number of cases is 1,776. Of 434 cases are from the south area (222 south west, 197 south central and 15 south east), 357 cases are from the far north area (349 far north west, 0 far north central and eight far north east),  338 cases are from the Saskatoon area,  271 cases are from the north area (131 north west, 73 north central and 67 north east),  271 cases are from the north area (131 north west, 73 north central and 67 north east), 232 cases are from the central area (171 central west and 61 central east) and 144 cases are from the Regina area.

There are currently 69 cases that are health care workers; however, the source of the infections is not related to their work environments in all instances.

Of the 1,776 cases in the province: 264 cases are related to travel, 877 are community contacts, which includes mass gatherings, 520 have no known exposures and 115 are under investigation by local public health.

The age breakdown shows 295 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, 579 cases are in the 20-39-age range, 547 are in the 40-59-age range, 295 are in the 60-79-age range and 60a re in the 80-plus range.

The gender breakdown shows 51 per cent of the cases being females and 49 per cent being males.

As of September 18, 166,646 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province an increase of 1,980 over yesterday.

As of September 16 when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 117,832 people tested per million population. The national rate was 170,848 people tested per million population.

COVID Alert App Launched In Saskatchewan

Starting Friday the Health Canada COVID Alert app is available to Saskatchewan residents.  Once it is downloaded to your smart phone, subscribers may participate in digital COVID-19 exposure alerts.

“As more activities head indoors, Saskatchewan residents should continue following public health guidelines to prevent COVID-19 transmission and protect friends and family,” Health Minister Jim Reiter said in a release. 

“Wash your hands frequently, ensure you can name every contact in your virtual household, maintain physical distancing and wear a mask when you cannot.  The COVID alert app is yet another tool residents have to stay safe during this pandemic.”

The national COVID Alert app uses Bluetooth technology to detect when users are near each other.  If a user tests positive for COVID-19, they can choose to let other users know about potential exposure risk without sharing any personal information.

If you test positive for COVID-19 you will be provided a one-time key from public health upon notification of your status. Enter the key into the app and it will notify other app users who have been within two metres of you for at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period within the last 14 days. Subscribers who receive this exposure alert can assess their risk and seek testing. All aspects of the app are completely voluntary.

The COVID Alert app does not collect personal information or health data, and does not know or track the location, name, address or contacts of any user.

The COVID Alert app does not replace contact investigations; if you do not have a smartphone or device that will support the app, you will still receive notification from public health officials if you have positive test results or are determined to be a close contact of a confirmed case. 
The Health Canada COVID Alert app is available at no cost in the Apple and Google Play app store. 

The app is another tool available to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.  All Saskatchewan residents must continue to follow public health measures including: Stay home if you are experiencing symptoms, even mild ones; Wash your hands frequently;  maintain physical distancing of two metres; disinfecting high-touch surfaces and objects regularly; and wearing a non-medical mask when you cannot maintain physical distancing or required by the guidelines for your workplace or school.

-Advertisement-