COVID death toll in Sask. rises to 13
Reopening of economy advances as two more succumb in far north
Two more people from Saskatchewan’s north who were diagnosed with COVID-19 have died, bringing the virus’s death toll in the province to 13.
The two people, one in his or her 60s and the other in their 70s, were residents of the province’s far north as defined by the health authority.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said he could not say whether the deaths happened in a health facility or not; he vowed to offer more details in the coming days. Nine of the province’s 13 deaths connected to COVID-19 have been in the north and far north regions.
The deaths are a reminder of the lethality of the virus as the province enters the third part of its reopening plan on Monday, meaning bars, restaurants, gyms and other businesses are now able to open at a reduced capacity and with new infection control measures.
Travel restrictions to the hardhit northwest have been lifted and the village of La Loche, the site of the largest outbreak in the province to date, is starting to relax some measures as the overall number of COVID-19 cases in the region drops to six.
The province also announced Monday that beaches and playgrounds can open June 12, with guidelines set to come later this week.
Premier Scott Moe said the “virus has not disappeared” but expressed optimism Saskatchewan can keep it in check as businesses reopen.
“In Saskatchewan, we have proven that we can control the spread of this virus,” Moe said.
On Monday the province reported four new cases, three of them related to international travel to Saskatoon via domestic flights with confirmed COVID-19 cases on board, and a fourth that was caused by local transmission in the far north.
Shahab said the effective reproduction number of the virus — the average number of people each positive case is likely to infect — is down to 0.64, meaning people are recovering faster than the virus can spread.
The province had 17 active cases as of Monday, with one person in hospital in Saskatoon.
The province’s “doubling rate,” or the period of time it takes the cumulative number of cases in the province to double, was at 35 days between April 19 and May 24, compared to seven days in early April.
Shahab noted that was “recent history” that could quickly be reversed. He referred to a model from the British Columbia public health agency, projecting case numbers could quickly skyrocket if the public returns to more than 70 per cent of the “normal” amount of social interaction. “Once you start getting to that 70 to 80 per cent range, you are in an area where you risk a second wave,” he said.
Shahab urged the public to limit interactions to the same four to five households and respect the outdoor gathering limit of 30 people as phase three begins.
“Repeated modelling shows the larger the gathering size, the more exponential the transmission,” Shahab said.
Significantly larger gatherings were held in the province last week, when thousands rallied in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, chanting slogans outside the provincial legislature and kneeling in silence in downtown Saskatoon to mourn the death of George Floyd, a 46year old Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer. That officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired and is charged with second-degree murder.
Shahab, who warned that protests could quickly spread COVID-19, said there may be an opportunity to revisit restrictions around protests and large gatherings in the fifth, final phase of the province’s reopening plan.
He and Moe were clear the protests do not mean the rules around gathering limits are no longer in effect.
“I would hope that we don’t have outbreaks specific to these particular rallies,” Moe said. “And if we don’t, I think that speaks to the success that we are having in this province.”