Provincial COVID-19 total at 531, 19 new cases in northern half of Saskatchewan

Of the 531 cases, 139 are travellers, 231 are community contacts (including mass gatherings), 53 have no known exposures and 108 are under investigation by public health.

Across the province, 43 cases are health care workers (although not all sourced their infections through work), 167 cases are in the Far North, 163 are from the Saskatoon area, 99 are from the North, 76 are from the Regina area, 15 from the South and 11 from the Central region.

The latest COVID-19 numbers in Saskatchewan as of May 7. (Submitted photo/SHA)

There are 71 cases involving people 19 years old and under.

There are 188 cases in the 20 to 39 age range, 163 are in the 40 to 59 age range, 93 are in the 60 to 79 age range and 16 are in the 80-plus age range.

Fifty per cent of cases are males and 50 per cent are females.

Six people have died from COVID-19 related complications in the province.

To date, there have been 34,361 tests performed for the virus in the province.

A graph depicting the latest data as of May 7. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

La Loche Outbreak

The province’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said most of the cases in the Far North have been in youth and younger adults which has contributed to there being no hospitalizations in the region for the disease.

Still he says hospitalizations in the region could rise, given that it usually takes two to three weeks from the time a person becomes infected for them to either recover or need hospitalization. If there is a need to transport people to hospital, Shahab said the health system is ready.

He also reminded youth to practice social distancing.

“You have a duty to prevent, obviously, even your risk of serious illness, but you can expose people within your households or within your extended households who may be older, who may have underlying risk factors,” he said.

SHA CEO Dr. Scott Livingstone said over 800 people have been tested for COVID-19 in La Loche and the surrounding area.

He added the province is now using a plan to transport swabs daily to a lab in Regina for testing.

“We’ve done that to expedite the testing so that there’s no ground transport delays associated with getting result back to the community,” he said.

Higher priority tests are analyzed using an on-site GeneXpert machine, but the device has limited capacity.

Lloydminster will re-open May 11

The province says the Lloydminster outbreak is now stable and the city can proceed with re-opening services and business according to the first phase of the province’s re-open plan.

Residents will need to follow personal protective measures to prevent transmission of the virus, which includes physical distancing, participating in gatherings of no more than 10 people, and washing hands frequently.

The province is also issuing additional guidance on extended households.

With extreme caution and under the following conditions, one or two close families may form an extended household group:

Your families or friends must remain consistent. Do not visit different families or friends every day.
If you are going to create an extended household group, consider if any member of the group has chronic health conditions that would put them at greater risk, or if they are in close contact with someone who could be vulnerable. Avoid forming an extended household with vulnerable people.
Families and friends within an extended household contact group can be closer than two metres if they are not high-risk.
Physical distancing of two metres should still be practiced around people with chronic health conditions and caution should be used in gatherings to limit touching common items, such as utensils.
You should always be aware of who you have been in contact with over the past two weeks. These are the people who would need to be contacted by public health if you were to test positive for COVID-19.

Seniors and individuals with chronic conditions

The Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan is a guide for businesses, not a personal preventative document, the province says.

Those who are elderly or have chronic conditions remain at risk for a more severe form of the disease. Those who are vulnerable may want to remain cautious before engaging in activities where social distancing cannot be maintained, the province said.

All Saskatchewan residents must continue to practice everyday preventive actions in the new normal, including:

Practice proper cough and sneezing etiquette (into a tissue or the bend of your elbow);
Wash your hands often with soap and water; if soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer;
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands;
Clean and disinfect your home regularly;
Maintain safe food practices;
Avoid close contact with people who are sick;
Stay home if sick;
Call ahead if needing to access health services for your health condition;
Avoid unnecessary travel; andAvoid large crowds and practice physical distancing (do not shake hands, hug or kiss except within your extended household).

Province fast-tracks record revenue sharing to communities

In a media release, the Government of Saskatchewan announced all Municipal Revenue Sharing funds will be paid in full to all compliant municipalities in June.

As part of the government’s response to the pandemic, Government Relations Minister Lori Carr announced the province opted to do this versus paying via installments throughout the year.

Municipal Revenue Sharing, which is based on .75 of one point of PST (from two years prior), is at an all-time record of $278 million. Today’s announcement is in addition to the two year, $2 billion economic stimulus investment for the economy that was unveiled on May 6.

-With files from Ian Gustafson, Cam Lee and Alison Sandstrom.

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panews@jpbg.ca

by paNOW Staff

Provincial COVID-19 total at 531, 19 new cases in northern half of Saskatchewan

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