Province reports 5 new COVID-19 cases

The Saskatchewan Legislature. -- Herald File Photo

The province announced another five new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Three of the cases are in the central region, one is in Saskatoon and one is in the south.

Of the 881 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 75 are considered active, a decrease of one from yesterday’s update. The recovered number is now 791.

There are eight people in hospital with illnesses related to COVID-19. Six individuals are receiving inpatient care in the hospital; five in Saskatoon and one in the south. Two people are listed in intensive care; one in Saskatoon and one in the south. The number of deaths from COVID-19 remains at 15 in the province.

The total number of cases is 881, of those  339 of the cases are from the far north,  200  are from the Saskatoon area, 120 are from the north, 85 are from the Regina area, 84 are from the south and 53 are from the central region.

There are currently 58 cases who are health care workers; however, the source of the infections is not related to their work environments in all instances.

Of the 881 cases in the province: 179 cases are related to travel, 497 are community contacts, which includes mass gatherings, 132 have no known exposures and 73 are under investigation by local public health.

The age breakdown shows 122 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, 310 cases are in the 20-39 age range, 271 are in the 40-59 age range, 153 are in the 60-79 age range and 25 are 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 July 15, 76,694 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.

As of July 13 when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 6,330 people tested per million population. The national rate was 87,857 people tested per million population.

Province reminds people to remember the fundamentals to prevent transmission

Saskatchewan residents across the province are reminded to follow the public health measures and personal safety precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Safety precautions include: physical distancing to maintain two metres of separation, implementing proper hygiene practices (coughing or sneezing into a tissue or your elbow), frequent handwashing and following provincial public health orders.

Anyone with symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, headaches, aches and pains, sore throat, chills, runny nose or a loss of sense of taste or smell, should protect themselves and others by staying home, self-isolating and getting tested for COVID-19.

COVID-19 testing is now available to anyone who requests it, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. A referral for testing can be made by contacting HealthLine 811.

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