Workers at long-term care homes will be assessed each shift, COVID-19 provincial total at 220

Employees at long-term care homes will have their temperatures checked before the beginning of each shift after an assisted living worker tested positive for the virus.

The worker is one of 14 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, with the total cases now at 220.

Premier Scott Moe said the relatively low COVID-19 numbers in Saskatchewan are good news, but people must continue to follow public health guidelines, including social distancing.

“As we are home over the weekend, people may want to relax these practices a little bit – don’t. Just don’t. Keep your guard up. It’s working, and it will continue to work. But we have to keep doing it.”

Two people are receiving hospital inpatient care in Saskatoon. One patient is an intensive care unit in Regina.

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Twelve more people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 48.

Of the 220 cases, 102 are travel-related, 52 are community contacts (including mass gatherings), 10 have no known exposures, and 56 remain under investigation by public health.

Four positive cases were added to the provincial total after they were tested in out-of-province laboratories over the past few weeks.

Overall across the province, 111 are from the Saskatoon area, 45 are from the Regina area, 42 are from the North, nine are from the central region, 10 are from the South and three are from the Far North.

(submitted photo/Government of Saskatchewan)

Six cases are under age 19 and the remainder are adults.

One hundred cases are between the ages of 20 and 44, 79 are between 45 and 64, and 35 are aged 65-plus.

Fifty-five per cent of cases are males and 45 per cent are females.

Three people have died from the virus.

Up until today, 12,112 tests have been performed in the province, making Saskatchewan the province with the second highest rate of testing.

Speaking about the higher rate of COVID-19 cases in Saskatoon and the North, the region that includes Prince Albert, Dr. Saqib Shahab said these were linked an event.

“The North at 42, also has a high number of cases linked to an exposure event,” he said.

As of yesterday, 24 cases of the virus had been linked to a March 14 snowmobile rally supper in Christopher Lake.

The latest numbers for April 3. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

Assisted Living Worker tested positive

An employee at Regina’s Eden Care assisted living facility has tested positive for the virus, but there are no indications it has spread to other employees or residents.

As a precaution, the facility is closed to admissions, discharges and transfers. Residents who were in contact with the employee will isolate and be monitored for 14 days.

To prevent the risk of the virus spreading, action is being taken by members of the Saskatchewan Health Authority. There are visitor restrictions in place.

Effective today, all employees who are working at long-term care homes in the province will have their temperatures checked at the beginning of their shifts. They will be monitored for COVID-19 symptoms.

Coming out of retirement

Retired health practitioners will now be able to have an easier and quicker way to provide urgent patient care. The Ministry of Health is working with professional health bodies to issue temporary licences for retired, non-practising and student members.

The government is covering fees for those professionals which can cost several hundred dollars per member per year depending on the regulatory body.

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panews@jpbg.ca