Updated as of 2:32 p.m., Saturday, April 11
A fourth person in Saskatchewan has died from an illness related to COVID-19. The province said the death occurred in Regina in a resident in their 60s.
The province reported the first two deaths from the virus, both in their 70s, on Mar. 30. It announced the third death of a person in their 80s just days later on Apr. 1.
As of Saturday, the province has four new cases of the virus plus confirmation of the presumptive case reported on Friday.
Eleven more people have recovered, bringing that total to 147. This brings the province’s number of active cases down to 138 from 146 on Friday.
“Today’s news certainly tempers the positive trend that we’re seeing in the case numbers,” said Premier Scott Moe.
“Today reminds us both of the risks of this deadly disease, but also the difference that we can make through good physical distancing practices.”
Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab once again emphasized that while the province is seeing significant improvements, residents still have to be cautious.
“We have to learn from the experiences of other provinces of Canada and other parts of the world like Europe and the US. It’s maybe too early still to let our guard down.”
Eight people are in hospital, seven in inpatient care and one in the ICU.
Of the 289 cases in the province, which includes active cases, recoveries and deaths:
• 126 cases are related to travel and 106 are linked to community contacts or mass gatherings
• 22 have no known exposures and 35 are under investigation by local public health
• 30 of the cases are healthcare workers, although the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances
• 145 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 60 from the Regina area, 52 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and seven from the far north
• 18 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, 126 cases are in the 20-44 age range, 96 are in the 45-64 age range and 49 are in the 65-plus range
• 54 per cent of the cases are males and 46 per cent are females.
To date, 18,448 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.
