COVID numbers on rise, nearly 300 so far this week
SHA tightens restrictions on visits to long-term care homes and hospitals
Saskatchewan reported 57 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, continuing a record-breaking month as transmission spikes in regions across the province.
There are now 469 known active cases of COVID-19 — a record number. Most are located in the Saskatoon, Regina or North Central regions.
Nearly 300 people in Saskatchewan have tested positive for the virus in the past week alone.
The Ministry of Health also reported 15 new recoveries on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said many new cases in the province were connected to “multiple superspreader events,” like a series of worship events at a gospel centre in Prince Albert that has been linked to more than 100 positive cases.
He said cases were also being connected to smaller, intimate gatherings like weddings, birthday parties and dinners.
“This is a time when we will also see symptomatic people following transmission events on Thanksgiving,” Shahab said, adding most celebrated the holiday safely.
The new cases reported Wednesday are spread across the north central (17), Saskatoon (14), Regina (11), central east (7), northeast (4), central west (2), far northeast (1) and northwest (1) of the province. Saskatchewan Health Authority spokeswoman Amanda Purcell said it's hard to calculate how many people in Saskatoon are self-isolating because of a COVID-19 exposure, but each positive case had an average of eight contacts, which is not unusual compared to earlier in the pandemic.
“The actual number of current close contacts in Saskatchewan is a rapidly evolving number and therefore cannot be accurately provided. This number is ever-evolving, based on the number of current active cases and close contacts of cases that are found as a result of contact tracing and investigations,” she wrote.
Shahab has said further localized public health restrictions, like those taken in the northwest in the spring, could be coming if case numbers continue to rise.
On Tuesday evening, the SHA announced that all visits to residents of long-term care homes and other health facilities in Saskatoon will be limited to compassionate reasons only, to prevent COVID-19 from entering those spaces. Restrictions will be reconsidered in two weeks' time, the authority said. Visitations are also limited at some health care and long-term care facilities in Prince Albert.
Shahab has not clearly said where the threshold for restrictions on businesses and workspaces is, but said on Tuesday that a rate of 60 cases per day — or roughly five per 100,000 residents of the province — would be a clear red flag. The province previously reported 66 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 44 on Tuesday.