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Record 308 new COVID-19 cases reported in Saskatchewan

Nov 14, 2020 | 2:28 PM

Saskatchewan has broken its daily reporting record for new COVID-19 cases several times in the past week, but Saturday’s total is new high.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority reported 308 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday. The previous record for cases reported in one day was 190 cases.

There are 30 new cases in the North Central zone (which includes Prince Albert), 30 in the North East, 23 in the North East, as well as 26 in the Far North West, 16 in the Far North East and eight in Far North Central.

Saskatoon reported 123 new cases, Regina had 20. Seven new cases each were reported in the Central West and Central East, and three each in the South Central and South East. Two were reported in the South West. There are 10 cases with pending residence information.

Of the 4,820 cases reported to date in the province, 1,691 are considered active. A total of 3,100 people have recovered.

The SHA attributed Saturday’s high number, in part, to the recent snowstorm.

“Today’s high number of reported cases is due in part to the snowstorm early in the week, which resulted in fewer people going for testing, and some delays in getting samples from remote locations to the provincial labs,” the SHA said in a media release. “Although we expect to see higher and lower case numbers daily which will average out, there is an upward trend in positive case numbers.”

Even with the snowstorm, from Nov. 7-13, the province broke its own daily record twice by reporting 159 cases on Nov. 8 and 190 cases on Nov. 9. It also reported over 100 cases in five of those seven days—before Saturday’s new high.

Submitted photo/Saskatchewan Health Authority

Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab reminded Saskatchewan residents of the importance of getting back to basics.

“Today’s record high case numbers are a reminder that the spread of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan is higher now than it has even been throughout Saskatchewan including urban, rural, Northern and First Nations areas and that we all need to redouble our efforts to protect ourselves and others,” Shahab said in the media release. “Wear a mask, limit your number of personal contacts, limit your number of visitors from outside your household, don’t leave home if you are feeling sick, and make sure you’re always physically distancing and washing your hands often. We all need to do our part to limit the spread.”

Fifty-seven people are in hospital. Forty-one people are receiving inpatient care; one in the Far North West, one in the Far North East, four in the North West, four in North Central, four in the North East, 22 in Saskatoon, one in Regina, one in the South West and 3 in South East zone. Sixteen people are in intensive care; one in the North West, three in North Central, eight in Saskatoon, two in Central East and two in Regina.

Of the 4,820 cases in the province:

· 405 cases are travelers;

· 2,152 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);

· 1,043 have no known exposures; and

· 1,220 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

· 140 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.

· 1,002 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.

· 1,763 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 1,343 are in the 40-59 age range; 591 are in the 60-79 age range; and 121 are in the 80-plus range.

· 51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.

· 29 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

Of 4,820 confirmed cases:

· 1,360 cases are from the Saskatoon area

· 1,031 cases are from the north area (332 north west, 486 north central, 213 north east)

· 703 cases are from the Regina area

· 619 cases are from the south area (255 south west, 259 south central, 105 south east)

· 614 cases are from the far north area (479 far north west, 31 far north central, 104 far north east)

· 473 cases are from the central area (210 central west, 263 central east)

· 20 cases have pending residence information

To date, 294,737 COVID-19 tests have been processed Saskatchewan. As of November 12, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 193,920 people tested per million population. The national rate was 272,114 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 3,665 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan, the highest test count in the 24 hour reporting period to date.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow