Health officials say 37 cases in city linked to nightclub

Shahab says province not planning more restrictions despite spike in infections

Thirty-seven cases of COVID-19 in Saskatoon have been linked to a single nightclub venue, part of a surge of hundreds of new cases linked to gatherings big and small in the past week.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab pushed back at the suggestion that restrictions are needed to curb the province's mounting caseload.

“I think we are not currently at a point where we can look at slowdowns or lockdowns,” Shahab said, though he cautioned that could change if numbers continue rising.

“We certainly don't want to go into a situation ( like) where we were in March and April.”

Saskatchewan reported 33 new confirmed cases of the virus on Friday, and 31 recoveries.

The total number of positive cases identified in the province is now 2,591, of which 511 are considered active.

The Saskatoon nightclub linked to the 37 cases in Saskatoon was initially not identified in a government release, but Shahab and Ministry of Health staff clarified it was the Longbranch country bar. An outbreak was also declared at Divas Nightclub.

“If we look at our average case rates over this period, we have gone up from 2.8 new cases a day on average per 100,000 to 4.2 new cases per 100,000 this week,” Shahab said.

There are 128 active cases in the Saskatoon area, 118 cases in the north central region, which includes Prince Albert, and 72 in the Regina area.

Shahab warned the virus is everywhere, not just Saskatchewan's largest cities.

The town of La Ronge reported on Friday that nine residents had recently tested positive, and the Northern Inter-tribal Health Authority reported 93 cases in its member communities.

“In urban areas, of course, we have seen large transmission events linked to nightclubs and fitness facilities. In rural settings the clusters tend to be due to private social gatherings, weddings, gatherings in the homes, house parties,” Shahab said.

Rather than impose more measures, he urged people to stay home if they feel unwell and avoid large events. He said he personally has opted to not attend funeral services in recent months.

“I stayed away and grieved virtually to ensure close family members can grieve safely,” Shahab said.

People planning celebrations like birthday parties must respect the maximum private gathering size of 15 people and ideally go well under it while remembering other rules like physical distancing and hand hygiene, he said.

As of Friday, 20 people were in hospital, four of them in intensive care. Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone warned that number will likely grow next week because of the number of newly confirmed cases.

New outbreaks have also been reported at Saskatchewan RCMP headquarters in Regina, where two staff in administrative roles tested positive for COVID-19. Six Prince Albert police staff have also tested positive for the virus this week.

Shahab did have some good news, which is that public health officials are still able to identify the source of most new infections in Saskatchewan.

“We still can, in the vast majority of cases, identify links to a known transmission event.”