Outbreak in Saskatoon tied to family gatherings
A COVID -19 community outbreak has been declared in Saskatoon after two family gatherings were held that exceeded the gathering limit of 10 people.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) declared the outbreak on Wednesday. So far, one confirmed case and one presumptive case have resulted from two large family gatherings held in early May.
“It is being declared an outbreak as it involves multiple different households with transmission linked to a large gathering,” the SHA said in a prepared statement.
Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical officer, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the two gatherings were likely outdoor family barbecues. Contact tracing has involved more than 60 people.
Shahab said the “situation is contained” and all identified close contacts are self-isolated at home. The outbreak has not resulted in any hospitalizations to date.
Saskatchewan also reported two more deaths due to COVID-19, which includes confirmation of a death the province said was under investigation on Tuesday. This brings the province’s death toll to 10.
Both people were from the Far North region and had tested positive for COVID -19. One person was in their 80s and the other was in their 60s.
Wednesday also brought three new cases on top of the ones reported in connection with the Saskatoon outbreak. Two are in the Regina area and one is in the Far North, bringing the province’s total to 637. Only 68 cases are considered active.
This is the first time the Regina area has recorded a new case since May 14.
Shahab said he could not say at this point whether Regina’s cases were a result of travel to other parts of the province or whether it was from transmission within the community.
“The fact that there’s two cases in Regina and now an outbreak in Saskatoon again is a reminder that even as we engage in reopening Saskatchewan ... we still need to consider very carefully, ‘Who are we inviting? Is there another way of connecting with people?’” he said. “COVID is still around throughout Saskatchewan and we need to keep taking all the precautions ... We cannot go back to business as usual.”
The NDP also raised concerns over the provincial government’s temporary closures — and subsequent reopening plan — of 12 rural emergency departments. The closures took place in early May and the province announced on Tuesday the ERS would begin to reopen in mid-june.
Vicki Mowat, health critic for the NDP, said those ERS should not have been closed if they were not immediately needed to help with COVID -19 patients.
“If there is a need and if there’s a surge in cases, absolutely we need to do what we can to fight COVID -19 and that includes reallocating resources, but this move was too fast and it was a mistake,” she said.
Mowat also said a Freedom of Information request the party had filed showed 11 of those 12 ERS have been struggling with staffing shortages for years and called on the provincial government to do more to ensure rural communities had the health-care staff they needed.
Scott Livingstone, CEO of the SHA, said staffing levels in these communities are being looked at as the emergency departments reopen.
Nine of the 12 facilities had enough staff to operate before the temporary shutdowns, but the ERS in Broadview, Radville and Lanigan were previously facing service disruptions and will need “additional time” before reopening, according to an earlier release from the SHA.
In communities where services were being disrupted, Livingstone said the staffing shortages are not always due to a lack of physicians, but also lab and diagnostic imaging technologists or nurses.