Potential COVID-19 exposure at Sturgeon Lake First Nation

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Potential COVID-19 exposure at Sturgeon Lake First Nation

The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) notified the public on Wednesday of a potential COVID-19 exposure at Sturgeon Lake First Nation. 

According to a release, an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 attended a wake and funeral while they were likely infectious. 

The wake was on Dec. 26 and 27 and the funeral was on Dec. 28. 

Public health officials are advising individuals who were at the events on those specific dates to immediately self-isolate if they have had or currently have symptoms of COVID-19. They advise to call HealthLine 811 or the nearest community health clinic to arrange for assessment and testing. 

Individuals who are not experiencing symptoms are advised to self-monitor for 14 days from the date of the last exposure.  

“It is important to note that individuals may develop symptoms from two to 14 days following exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19,” the release stated 

According to the most recent numbers from the province, there are 272 active cases of COVID-19 in NITHA communities.  

These cases include 138 in the Far North East zone, 61 in the North Central zone, 48 in the Far North West zone, 22 in the North East zone, three in Athabasca and no case reported in the Far North Central. There have been 983 recoveries and there are currently seven people in hospital. 

Saskatchewan seeing COVID-19 case counts heading in the right direction

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Saskatchewan seeing COVID-19 case counts heading in the right direction

In a press availability to update on vaccination and COVID-19 Wednesday, both Health Minister Paul Merriman and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab gave credit to the people of the province abiding by regulations over Christmas. 

“Our new case numbers in Saskatchewan continued to drop over the past week. This may be partially due to fewer people getting tested over the Christmas holiday. But the new case numbers have definitely been trending in the right direction over the past couple of weeks,” Merriman said. 

“I know this is not the kind of Christmas that we were used to but I hope everyone was still able to find ways to celebrate and connect with family and friends,” he added. 

Merriman believes that case numbers are dropping because of the efforts of the Saskatchewan people. He said those efforts have allowed businesses, services and activities to remain open all while controlling the spread of COVID-19. There are currently 2,699 cases considered active in Saskatchewan as of Dec. 31. 

The seven-day average dropped from 292 cases per day on Dec. 12 to 157 in the last update by the province on Dec. 31. 

The number of active cases in the province has also dropped to below 3,000 for the first time since late November. 

“These case numbers are still much higher than we would like but they are trending in the right direction. The restrictions that we have in place are working so I want to thank everyone in Saskatchewan for continuing to follow all of the public health orders and guidelines particularly over the holiday season,” Merriman said. 

Shahab said that reports he heard from friends and colleagues were that Christmas was quiet. 

“People celebrated and connected to friends and family remotely on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. But a lot of people were out and about, the weather was mild and it was great to see families outside greeting friends and neighbors,” Shahab said. 

Shahab explained that while overall numbers have been trending low the test positivity rate remains high at between seven and nine per cent. 

“That shows while we are obviously happy that our overall daily case numbers have remained stable the test positivity rate show that there is a bit of a concern,” he explained. 

He advised anyone with symptoms to seek testing because it informs for isolation for close contacts as while as people with COVID-19. 

“That will be important throughout the holiday season and of course as we start the new year that is going to be very important to continue with those practices,” Shahab said. 

There were 142 people in hospital overall in the province, according to the Dec. 31 report, and Shahab explained that numbers are remaining steady. 

“Our hospitalization numbers there has been an adjustment but they have remained stable for the most part. We haven’t seen them increasing but there is a one-to-two-week lag and so we will be monitoring that closely in January to see if there were any increase in cases beyond what we are able to see at this point,” Shahab said. 

Shahab reminded people in the province to think of health care workers. 

“We have to recognize that whole many of us were able to take some time off over Christmas and New Year’s Eve our friends and colleagues in the health system have been working the holidays,” he said. 

Both Merriman and Shahab expressed their condolences to the family and friends of all 30 people who passed away since the last press conference on Dec. 22. 

Regina Correctional outbreak concerns raised by NDP

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Regina Correctional outbreak concerns raised by NDP

There are currently 54 active COVID-19 cases among inmates and three among staff at the Regina Correctional Centre. In a press availability on Thursday, opposition NDP Justice Critic Nicole Sarauer raised concerns about the Saskatchewan Party’s handling of the pandemic. 

“It’s extremely upsetting considering this isn’t the first major outbreak we’ve seen in our jails in the province, the fact that we clearly haven’t learned anything from the Saskatoon outbreak, is awful,” Sarauer said. 

This outbreak comes after one was reported at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre in November. 

Sarauer said that the fact that there is no set policy at this point in a pandemic is not wise. 

“There should be clear policies and procedures in place for what happens if an inmate or staff member tests positive and those should be followed very closely,” she said. 

According to the province, the number of cases at the jail are expected to increase with testing underway. All new admissions to provincial correctional facilities are tested and screened on admission and again after 10 days. Offenders are also tested if they are symptomatic and are identified as requiring testing due to contact tracing or being moved to a reduced custody setting. 

She explained that a policy wasn’t in place for the Saskatoon outbreak and it still has not been solved.  

Sarauer accused Minister of Corrections Christine Tell of not being concerned with identifying the source of the outbreaks.

“Now we’re seeing the results of a minister who doesn’t care about her file, there’s now another major outbreak at the Regina jail and it’s important because not only are inmates’ lives at risk but staffs’ lives are at risk and all of these folks need to utilize our healthcare system which is already overburdened,” she said. 

Sarauer has already called for Tell to step down from her position because of the Saskatoon outbreak and a lack of desire to find solutions. 

“Now here we are with another outbreak,” Sarauer explained. 

The mass testing in Regina was only recently announced and Sarauer emphasised that the opposition has already called for similar measures after Saskatoon. 

“The fact that it hasn’t been implemented and is just being implemented now shows a lack of leadership at the ministerial level. Minister Tell should have been hearing these calls and pushing the health authority if that’s where the block was to make this happen so we wouldn’t be seeing what we’re seeing now at the Regina jail.” 

One death related to COVID-19 reported Thursday

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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One death related to COVID-19 reported Thursday

There was one more death related to COVID-19 reported by the province on Thursday.
The death was in the Saskatoon zone and was in the 80-years-old and over age group.
The number of deaths in the province has now grown to 155.
There were also 190 cases reported in the province.
The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 37 new cases. North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 275 active cases.
North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 113 active cases and North Central 3 has 73 active cases.
The North Central zone is third in the Active Case Breakdown with 461 active cases. There were 13 cases with pending information added to the North Central zone.
There are currently 142 people in hospital overall in the province. Of the 112 reported as receiving in patient care there are 21 in North Central. Of the 30 people reported to be in intensive care five are in the North Central zone.
The current seven-day average is 157, or 13 cases per 100,000 population.
Of the 15,350 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan 2,699 are considered active.
The recovered number now sits at 12,496 after 439 more recoveries were reported over three days.
As of December 31, there are 54 active COVID-19 cases among inmates and three active cases among staff at the Regina Correctional Centre. This number is expected to increase as testing is underway. All new admissions to provincial correctional facilities are tested and screened for COVID-19 upon admission, and again after 10 days. Offenders are also tested if they are symptomatic, and are identified as requiring testing due to contact tracing or being moved to a reduced custody setting, the province said.
The total numbers of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 15,160. Of those 3,727 cases are from the north area (1,401 north west, 1,820 north central and 506 north east)
As of Dec. 30, 3,458 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and in Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.
Yesterday, 2,198 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.
As of today there have been 426,731 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan.
An update will not be available on New Year’s Day. That case information will be included in the next, scheduled information posting on Jan 2, 2021.

Keep New Year’s Eve Safe

The province also reminded everyone to abide by public health orders this New Year’s long weekend.
“While most people are eager to say farewell to 2020, public health officials remind everyone that current public health orders on gathering sizes and events remain in place.  Keep your celebrations to your household.  Connect with friends and family virtually.  Also head outdoors to wish your neighbours a happy new year at a safe distance,” the province’s release said.
Enforcement of public health orders is permitted under The Public Health Act, 1994.  Events and gatherings that are not abiding to the current public health order may be subject to fines.

Province updates on vaccine distribution in Prince Albert

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Province updates on vaccine distribution in Prince Albert

Further details on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine rollout starting next Monday in Prince Albert were provided Wednesday during a press availability with the health minister and Chief Medical Health Officer.

Paul Merriman and Dr. Saqib Shahab also spoke about the first rollout of the Moderna vaccine in the north.

According to Merriman, Pfizer vaccine doses for Prince Albert are still expected to arrive on Monday, along with additional doses for Saskatoon.

“Saskatchewan has a great track record when it come to immunization so we are ready to administer all of the vaccines we get as soon as we receive them. This is how we will protect Saskatchewan people from COVID-19 and move past this pandemic. But until then please keep following all of the guidelines in public health orders to protect yourself and those around you,” Merriman said.

Shahab outlined the situation.

“Based on the vaccine we are getting we are able to start distributing the Pfizer and now the Moderna vaccine to different parts of the province including the Far North,” he said.

“900 doses (of the Pfizer vaccine) will be arriving January 4 and, similar to Regina and Saskatoon, health care workers providing ongoing care to COVID-19 patients, staff that work in long term care facilities and personal care homes will be vaccinated in Prince Albert starting next week,” Shahab added.

The first 3,000 doses have been administered to front line workers in Saskatoon and Regina as of Wednesday’s update.

So far 1,834 vaccines have been administered in Regina and the remainder will be provided to long-term care staff at Regina Pioneer Village and Santa Maria Care Home.

In Saskatoon 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered on Dec.21 and another 975 were delivered this week. Shahab said that 1,108 of those doses have been administered.

According to Shahab they expect 6,825 doses of vaccine delivered weekly in the month of January. Because the Pfizer vaccine has to be stored below – 70 C the province has procured five special freezers. These are currently located in Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina.

“Further freezers are expected as we branch out the Pfizer vaccine program throughout Saskatchewan,” Shahab said.

The expansion will allow health care workers and workers in long-term care and personal care workers to have access to vaccinations.

The Moderna vaccine will be distributed in the Far North and the first 4,900 doses have arrived. The vaccine can be stored at minus 20 degrees so it is easier to move and store, Shahab said. The first batch will be distributed in the Far North Central and Far North West.

“This is where we have had a high number of cases and a high test positivity rate. Initially about half of the doses will be sent and distributed,” Shahab said.

“The distribution is quite complicated in the Far North so all of that has been worked out and that will start this week and next week and then after vaccines are used, further shipments will be sent from Regina to the far North,” he added.

The vaccination is expected to commence the week of Jan. 4 with high-risk populations having first priority. This includes long-term care residents and staff, personal care home residents and staff, front line health care workers who are giving ongoing regular care to those who have COVID-19 and staff working in COVID-19 testing sites.

According to Shahab, communication is ongoing with local leadership in the Far North to provide notification on topics such as clinic dates and locations. The province is also doing radio advertisements in languages such as Cree and Dene. They are also working with local health authorities.

“There is a lot of pre-planning work that is already happening and as the vaccine goes out obviously the Far north covers a vast geographic area.”

Notifications of those who are eligible this round is ongoing,” Shahab said.

Merriman explained that the vaccination is going well at this stage but they are awaiting clarity from the federal government on some numbers.

“We expect the federal government to begin receiving and distributing much larger numbers of vaccines early in the New Year. We are trying to get a clear indication from the Federal government of the number of vaccines they will be sending us each week so we can better plan for the next step in our distribution process,” he said.

The logistics of vaccination are challenging because of the complexity, scale and differences in storage procedure according to Merriman.

“Saskatchewan is absolutely prepared to meet this challenge but we need the Federal Government to provide more clarity than they have about the numbers of vaccine doses we will receive over the next few weeks,” Merriman said.

COVID-19 Outbreak declared at Columbian Centre

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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COVID-19 Outbreak declared at Columbian Centre

The Columbian Centre seniors living complex in Prince Albert was recently placed under lockdown after public health detected five cases of COVID-19 among residents of the building.

According to facility manager Rob Fahlman, after an initial positive test was confirmed on Dec. 23 public health informed Columbian Centre that seniors are not allowed to leave their rooms and visitors are not permitted.

“People were just getting ready to leave for their families. So they dropped everything and just stayed the course,” Fahlman said.

A letter displayed on the building’s entrance states that home care staff are allowed to enter with the proper personal protective equipment. The letter was given to Fahlman by public health after the initial positive case on Dec. 23.

“I am most concerned about the ones that have tested positive and it just makes me feel more at ease that they are comfortable. Some of them have symptoms but for the most part they are doing very well isolating in their own suites,” he explained.

After the initial positive test, all residents were tested on Christmas Eve and the other four positive results were returned last weekend.

Fahlman says things are going well inside the building.

“It was tough on everyone but everyone is doing really quite well. The vast majority is doing really quite well including the five cases that are positive are all doing well, isolating well in their own suites. I try to phone them daily to find out how they are doing,” he explained.

The province, in the official listings on the province’s online dashboard, has not yet listed the outbreak. The last update to Prince Albert outbreaks was on Dec. 21.

Fahlman said that everyone, including negative cases in the building, is handling the situation well and can get supplies in a safe manner.

“We are lucky we have a porch that can still be divided by a closed door so people drop off supplies and then we allow people to pick them up after they are gone.”

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has also been great as a guide, Falhman said.

“We have added extra sanitization shifts in the building. We already had a strict sanitization schedule before that and then of course we had somebody from Public Health come in and suggest extra so that is what we are going to do and we have been doing,” he said.

Fahlman stressed that staff are busy making sure everyone is comfortable and following protocol.

With it being a stressful situation, Fahlman feels that the problems can be ironed out with effective communication and that has been achieved. He compared the adaption to what happened in March when the province first went into a lockdown situation.

“There was so much unknown back then now people are kind of getting reminded that this is what it felt like back then and it usually takes a week or two before they really settle in. Overall people are doing very well,” he said.

Fahlman noted that the entire building would be tested again on Saturday if there are people available. They expect to get an update on the situation around the middle to late part of next week.

“So we just wait for that day and see if we have any additional cases and hope for the best.”

Three more COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Three more COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday

There were three more deaths related to COVID-19 reported by the province on Wednesday.

The deaths were all in the Saskatoon zone and were in the 80-years-old and over age group, 60 to 69 age group and 30 to 39 age group.

The number of deaths in the province has now grown to 154.

There were also 147 cases reported in the province.

There were 16 cases with pending information added to the North Central zone.

The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 10 new cases.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 305 active cases.

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 120 active cases and North Central 3 has 71 active cases.

The North Central zone is second in the Active Case Breakdown with 498 active cases. Regina has dropped to third with 477 active cases following many months in second place for active case numbers.

Nine cases with pending residence information, previously reported, have been found to be out-of-province residents and were removed from the counts.

After no hospitalization numbers were reported Tuesday there were updated numbers on Wednesday.  There are currently 155 people in hospital overall in the province. Of the 119 reported as receiving in patient care there are 22 in North Central. Of the 32 people reported to be in intensive care five are in the North Central zone.

The current seven-day average is  152, or 12.5 cases per 100,000 population.

Of the 15,160 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 2,949 are considered active.

The recovered number now sits at 12,057 after 378 more recoveries were reported over three days.

The total numbers of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 15,160. Of those 3,661 cases are from the north area (1,387 north west, 1,770 north central and 504 north east)

As of Dec. 29, 2,942 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and in Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.

Yesterday, 1,475 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan.

As of today there have been  424,533 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan. 

According to the province the daily case information, including news release and dashboard, will be posted from Dec. 29 through Dec. 31.  An update will not be available on New Year’s Day. That case information will be included in the next, scheduled information posting on Jan 2, 2021. 

Over 200 cases reported of COVID-19 province-wide

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Over 200 cases reported of COVID-19 province-wide

Saskatchewan reported 208 new cases of COVID-19 across the province over the past two days.

Tuesday’s update included data from December 28 and 29.

In zones other than North Central, there were 39 cases added in both Regina and Saskatoon, 36 in the Far North East, 15 in the South East, 13 in the North West, eight in the North East, seven the Central East, four in the Central West and Far North West and a single case in the South West.

Nine new cases have pending residence information.

Single cases assigned to the North West and Central East.

Hospital numbers across the province were not reported in this update.

The Saskatoon zone leads the Active Case breakdown with 911 cases.

In second place is Regina with 503 active cases.

The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 15,022. Of those, 4,251 cases are from the Saskatoon area, 2,923 cases are from the Regina area, 1,654 cases are from the far north (896 far north west, 106 far north central and 652 far north east), 1,548 cases are from the south (557 south west, 532 south central and 459 south east) and 920 cases are from the central area (339 central west and 581 central east). There are now 105 cases with pending residence information.

There are currently 674 cases that are health care workers; however, the source of the infections is not related to their work environments in all instances.

Of the 10,412 cases in the province: 620 cases are related to travel, 7,251 are community contacts, which includes mass gatherings, 3,458 have no known exposures and 3,693 are under investigation by local public health.

The age breakdown shows 3,170 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, 5,373 cases are in the 20-39-age range, 2,596 are in the 40-59-age range, 1,953 are in the 60-79-age range and 670 are in the 80-plus-age range. Five cases have a pending age confirmation.

The gender breakdown shows 50 per cent of the cases being females and 50 per cent being males.

10 deaths due to COVID-19 over last two days

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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10 deaths due to COVID-19 over last two days

There were 10 more deaths related to COVID-19 reported by the province on Tuesday.

Two deaths in the 60 to 69 age group and one in the 80-years-old and over group were reported in the North Central zone.

The 60 to 69 group also saw two deaths in the Saskatoon zone. A single death in the 70 to 79 age group was reported in the Regina zone. The 80 and over age group also saw two deaths reported in Regina and one reported each in the Far North West, North West and Central East zones.

There was also a death reported in the 20 to 29 age group in the Saskatoon zone.

The number of deaths in the province has now grown to 151.

There were also 208 cases reported over the two days in the province. Today saw 114 cases and Dec. 28 saw 94 cases.

There were 29 cases with pending information added to the North Central zone.

There were no hospitalization numbers reported in the province.

In the last hospitalization update, which was released on Sunday, there were 156 people in acute care and 26 in ICU.

The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 33 new cases over the two-day span.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 309 active cases.

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 122 active cases and North Central 3 has 83 active cases.

The North Central zone is third in the Active Case Breakdown with 514 active cases.

The current seven-day average is 154, or 12.7 cases per 100,000 population.

Of the 15,022 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 3,191 are considered active.

The recovered number now sits at 11,680 after 405 more recoveries were reported over three days.

The total numbers of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 15,022 of those 3,621 cases are from the north area (1,378 north west, 1,744 north central and 499 north east).

As of Dec. 28, 2,371 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and in Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.

A total of 2,438 COVID-19 tests were processed over the previous three days.  On Dec. 29 there were 1,199 processed and on Dec. 28 there were 1,239 processed.

As of Tuesday there have been 423,058 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan. 

According to the province the daily case information, including news release and dashboard, will be posted from Dec. 29 through Dec. 31. 

An update will not be available on New Year’s Day. That case information will be included in the next, scheduled information posting on Jan 2, 2021. 

Update on vaccination rollout to come tomorrow

According to an email from the Ministry of Health, Minister of Health Paul Merriman and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab will provide an update on the ongoing vaccination process on Wednesday.

The details included in the update will include more details on the rollout of the Moderna vaccine to Northern Saskatchewan as well an information on the additional vaccination site in Prince Albert which is set to begin in the City on Monday, Jan. 4 as announced by Merriman on Dec. 22.

Seven more deaths from COVID-19 reported on Sunday

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Seven more deaths from COVID-19 reported on Sunday

Saskatchewan reported seven deaths related to COVID-19 on Sunday.

The seven deaths were included in the most recent COVID-19 update, which included statistics from Dec. 25, 26 and 27. The update was published on Dec. 27. There was no data update on Dec. 28.

Two deaths were in the 70-79 age group were reported in the North Central zone.

Two of the deaths were in the 80-years-old and over age group and located in the North West, one in that age group was also reported in the Regina and South East zones.

There was also one death reported in the North West was in the 30-39 age group.

The number of deaths in the province has now grown to 141.

There were also 559 new cases reported by the province on Sunday.

On Christmas Day there were 229 new cases and no new deaths reported. Hospitalizations included 125 acute care and 29 in ICU. 

On Boxing Day there were 132 new cases and no new deaths reported. Hospitalizations included 144 acute care and 30 in ICU. 

On Sunday there were 198 new cases reported. Hospitalizations include 156 in acute care and 26 in ICU.

The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 104 new cases over the three-day span.

The current seven-day average is 180, or 14.9 cases per 100,000 population.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 273 active cases.

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 123 active cases and North Central 3 has 81 active cases.

The North Central zone is third in the Active Case Breakdown with 477 active cases.

Of the 14,814 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 3,945 are considered active.

The recovered number now sits at 11,275 after 500 more recoveries were reported over three days.

As of Dec. 23, 1,786 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided to health care workers in Regina as part of the initial pilot and Saskatoon as part of Phase 1.

A total of 5,079 COVID-19 tests were processed over the previous three days.  On Christmas Day there were 2,422, Boxing Day saw 1,442 reported and 1,215 were reported on Dec. 27.

As of Sunday there have been 420,620 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan. 

According to the province the daily case information, including news release and dashboard, will be posted from Dec. 29 through Dec. 31. 

An update will not be available on New Year’s Day. That case information will be included in the next, scheduled information posting on Jan 2, 2021. 

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