Active coronavirus cases down to 139 in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan reported a double-digit increase in novel coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

Health officials said there were 16 new cases in the daily update, with the overall total for the province growing to 1,984 since the first case was reported in March.

According to a press release, most of the new cases are located in the Saskatoon zone with six, while there are three in central east, two each in south east and Regina and the one each in far north west and north central. The residence location of the sixteenth case is still pending.

“As the risk of local transmission increases, now is the time to reset your household and reduce the risk to those who matter most to you,” Saskatchewan chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said in a statement.

“We are all now part of other cohorts: in the workplace, at school, at extracurricular activities. Observing the necessary public health guidance in each of these settings and keeping our close contact list short is a vital step in reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”

In the province, two people are currently in hospital with COVID-19 — one is in inpatient care and the other is in intensive care.

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Twenty more people have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,821.

There are currently 139 active cases in the province, health officials said. Active cases are total cases less recoveries and deaths.

There have been 24 COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan.

According to a press release, 1,597 COVID-19 tests were performed on Monday in Saskatchewan. To date, 203,733 tests have been carried out in the province.

4:34 Healthy Living: What you need to know ahead of flu season

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.

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