There are 23 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on August 7, bringing the total to 1,409 cases. The new cases are located in the North West (1), Saskatoon (3), Central East (2), Regina (2), South West (3) and South Central (12) zones.

Of today’s 23 new cases, 19 are people living in communal living settings. The reported increase is a result of aggressive contact tracing and increased testing.

One more person has died from COVID-19. This person was in the South West region and was in the 60 to 69 age range.

One case from July 20 was a false positive and has been removed from the total case count.

Of the 1,409 reported cases, 168 are considered active. A total of 1,221 people have recovered.

Thirteen people are in hospital. Nine people are receiving inpatient care; four in Saskatoon, two in the South West region, one in the Central East region, one in South Central and one in Regina. Four people are in intensive care; three in Saskatoon and one in the North Central region.

Of the 1,409 cases in the province:
• 206 cases are travellers;
• 711 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 378 have no known exposures; and
• 114 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 64 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 352 cases are from the far north area (346 far north west, 0 far north central, 6 far north east), 318 cases are from the south area (153 south west, 154 south central, 11 south east), 221 cases are from the Saskatoon area, 227 cases are from the north area (99 north west, 63 north central, 65 north east), 189 cases are from the central area (159 central west, 30 central east) and 102 cases are from the Regina area.
• 226 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 446 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 445 are in the 40-59 age range; 243 are in the 60-79 age range; and 49 are in the 80-plus range.
• 50 per cent of the cases are females and 50 per cent are males.
• 20 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 108,148 COVID‐19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan. As of August 5, 2020, when other provincial and national numbers were available from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 78,006 people tested per million population. The national rate was 114,904 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 2,129 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan. This is the highest daily number of tests performed to date.

Contact Investigation Underway

A number of employees of K-Bro Linens’ Regina location have tested positive for COVID-19. Public health’s contact investigation is underway to determine transmission. Part of this investigation has included a microbiologist’s assessment of the processes for linen to ensure the linens remain safe for use in health care facilities. That review has determined there is no safety concern for processed linen. Note that all employees wear PPE during the performance of their duties.

Public health’s investigation indicates there is no public health risk at this time; in the event that a risk to public health is determined, a public safety announcement will be made.

More Detailed Data Available

New COVID-19 maps have been launched to provide more detailed information on the location of cases across Saskatchewan.

One map has 13 regions with comprehensive statistical information for COVID-19 activity in that region. The second map is broken down into 32 smaller zones and will provide new positive and current active COVID-19 case numbers for those smaller zones.

The current online Dashboard remains based on the previous six larger regions, while work is underway to incorporate the new geographic information over the next few weeks. The Dashboard can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness.

COVID-19 Testing

COVID-19 testing is now available to anyone who requests it, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. A referral for testing can be made by contacting HealthLine 811. Since introducing universal testing, there has been an increase in requests to be tested with the corresponding increase in provincial testing numbers. The Saskatchewan Health Authority is working to ensure responsive service timing. Contact your physician’s office if you are experiencing worsening symptoms. If you require urgent care, call 911.

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

Find the most up-to-date version of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan at www.saskatchewan.ca/re-open.