The province is reporting 74 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 recoveries on Monday.
There were 78 new cases reported on Saturday and 74 new cases reported on Sunday.
North central has the highest number of new cases reported on Monday, with 22 cases. This brings the total of active cases up to 156 in the region.
Prince Albert has one new case of COVID-19. The total number of active cases remains at 52 in the city.
Elsewhere in the province, there is one new case in the far north west zone, five new cases in the north west zone, one new case in the north east zone, 18 new cases in Saskatoon, one new case in the central west zone, one new case in the central east zone, and 14 new cases in Regina.
A total of 11 cases reported on Monday have pending residence locations. One case reported on Oct. 21 has been assigned to the north west zone.
There are 34 people are in the hospital. In the north central zone, seven people are receiving inpatient care and two people are in intensive care.
Yesterday there were 2,363 COVID-19 tests were performed in the province.
New potential exposures
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is notifying the public of potential exposure to COVID-19 at several businesses in the city. A person or persons attended the following businesses while likely infectious:
- October 22
- Dollarama, 2995 2nd Ave W, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- October 23
- Gateway Mall (every store), 1403 Central Avenue, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
- Walmart, 800 15 Street East, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
- McDonalds, 3625 2 Avenue, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- Northern Lights Casino, 44 Marquis Road W, 6:30 p.m. to early morning hours on October 24
- October 26
- Venice House Restaurant, 1498 Central Avenue, no times identified
- October 29
- Ramada Hotel Lounge, 3245 2 Avenue West, 5 p.m. to midnight
New Drive-Thru testing location in Yorkton
SHA has opened a new drive-thru testing site in Yorkton.
The testing site is located at 276 Myrtle Ave. and is open Monday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Drive-Thru testing sites are first come, first served.
Each person must bring a valid Saskatchewan Health Card and are required to wear a mask during the registration process. A Canadian Armed Forces number or Interim Federal Health identification will also be accepted. People from out of province getting tested require a valid provincial health card for their province of residence.
There are no public washrooms on site, and people must wait in their cars.
USask opens negative callback centre
The college of nursing at USask has partnered with the SHA and public health to open the Negative COVID Callback Centre (NCCC) on campus, according to a media release sent by USask.
On Oct. 19, fourth-year nursing students began calling individuals who tested negative for COVID-19.
The nursing students are enrolled in a community nursing class.
Tish King, nursing instructor said the centre was established to help provide nursing services to the community during the pandemic.
“When making the calls, our students will provide the timely communication of COVID-19 test results to those who have tested negative, while also providing tailored, responsive health information and education to help reduce the number of preventable cases in the city of Saskatoon,” said King in the release.
The centre and its operational policies were created in one week, according to King.
Brendan Neudorf was one of the nursing students on the leadership team that helped open up the NCCC. Neudorf said that in on week the group had to plan how to set up the call centre, and work with the SHA to understand what to say during the calls.
“We had to consider the health literacy of the people we’re calling, the confidentiality of their health information, and be ready to talk about disease prevention, specifically related to COVID-19. We worked with public health to build training programs for our fellow students and instructors, including policies and procedures, program evaluations, data collection for the SHA, and ensure the USask campus exposure control plan was followed,” said Neudorf.
Students are working in the centre Monday to Wednesday until mid-December which is when they complete their community nursing class. However, King said the goal is to continue providing support to the community during the pandemic in any way nursing students can help.
Nursing students inside the Negative COVID Callback Centre (NCCC) on the University of Saskatchewan Campus. (Submitted photo/University of Saskatchewan)
