As of April 12, 2020, Saskatchewan has seven new confirmed cases and two new presumptive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 298 reported cases.

The presumptive positives are due to more testing machines being added in Saskatchewan.

A new machine to test for COVID-19 is online at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL). The first 10 positive specimens identified by the new machine must be considered presumptive positives and require confirmation using RRPL’s existing machine.

In addition, Meadow Lake has started testing and these cases are considered presumptive positives until confirmed by the RRPL.

Of the total number of reported cases, 130 cases are considered active.

Seventeen more people have recovered, bringing the provincial total to 164.

There are seven people in hospital in the province, who are all receiving inpatient care. No one is in intensive care.

Of the 298 cases in the province:
• 129 cases are travel related;
• 112 are contacts or linked to mass gatherings;
• 25 have no known exposures; and
• 32 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 32 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
• 147 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 63 from the Regina area, 56 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and seven from the far north.
• 20 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 129 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 99 are in the 45-64 age range; and 50 are in the 65-plus range.
• 53 per cent of the cases are males and 47 per cent are females.
• Four deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 19,276 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among provinces that have reported.

Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

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

A Saskatchewan resident in their 60s has died from complications related to COVID-19. The death took place in Regina.

The province now has four deaths related to the virus.

As of April 11, 2020, Saskatchewan has four new cases plus confirmation of the presumptive positive reported April 10. This brings the total to 289 cases in Saskatchewan.

Of the total number of cases, 138 cases are considered active.

Eleven more people have recovered, bringing the provincial total to 147.

There are eight people in hospital in the province. Seven people are receiving inpatient care and one person is in intensive care.

Of the 289 cases in the province:
• 126 cases are travel related;
• 106 are contacts or linked to mass gatherings;
• 22 have no known exposures; and
• 35 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 30 of the cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
• 145 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 60 from the Regina area, 52 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and seven from the far north.
• 18 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 126 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 96 are in the 45-64 age range; and 49 are in the 65-plus range.
• 54 per cent of the cases are males and 46 per cent are females.
• Four deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 18,448 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among the provinces.

Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

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

As of April 10, 2020, Saskatchewan has six new confirmed cases and one new presumptive case of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, bringing the total to 285 reported cases.

The one new presumptive case was indeterminate (neither positive nor negative) and is being sent to the National Microbiology Laboratory for further testing.

Of the total number of reported cases, 146 cases are considered active.

Twenty-one more people have recovered, bringing the provincial total to 136.

There are eight people in hospital in the province. Six people are receiving inpatient care and two people are in intensive care.

Of the 285 cases in the province:
• 123 cases are travel related;
• 103 are contacts or linked to mass gatherings;
• 22 have no known exposures; and
• 36 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 30 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
• 142 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 60 from the Regina area, 52 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and six from the far north.
• 17 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 124 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 96 are in the 45-64 age range; and 48 are in the 65-plus range.
• 54 per cent of the cases are males and 46 per cent are females.
• Three deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 17,634 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among the provinces.

Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

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

As of April 9, 2020, Saskatchewan has seven new, confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 278.

One hundred and sixty of the cases are considered active – five fewer than the day before.

Twelve more people have recovered, bringing the provincial total to 115.

Currently, there are eight people in hospitals across the province with COVID-19. Six people are receiving inpatient care, while two are in intensive care.

Of the 278 cases in the province:
• 122 cases are travellers;
• 96 are community contacts (mass gatherings included);
• 20 have no known exposures; and
• 40 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 27 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
• 138 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 58 from the Regina area, 52 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and five from the far north.
• 15 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 120 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 95 are in the 45-64 age range; and 48 are in the 65-plus range.
• 54 per cent of the cases are males and 46 per cent are females.
• Three deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 16,672 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.

This includes 1,051 tests conducted in the past day, representing the single highest number of tests conducted in a day so far. Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among the provinces. Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of confirmed cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

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

As of April 8, 2020, Saskatchewan has 11 new, confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 271.

One hundred and sixty-five of the cases are considered active. Fifteen more people have recovered, bringing the provincial total to 103.

Currently, there are eight people in hospitals across the province from COVID-19. Six people are receiving inpatient care, while two are in intensive care.

Of the 271 cases in the province:
• 119 cases are travellers;
• 90 are community contacts (mass gatherings included);
• 16 have no known exposures; and
• 46 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan:
• 26 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.
• 135 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 56 from the Regina area, 51 from the north, 15 from the south, 10 from the central region and four from the far north.
• 15 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 114 cases are in the 20-44 age range; 94 are in the 45-64 age range; and 48 are in the 65-plus range.
• 54 per cent of the cases are males and 46 per cent are females.
• Three deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

To date, 15,621 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. Saskatchewan continues to have the second highest rate of testing per capita among the provinces. Case surveillance and testing information, including regional locations of confirmed cases, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

Public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.
 
Health System Planning Information Online

Today, the Saskatchewan Health Authority provided updated information on the health system’s preparations and planning for COVID-19. You can find that information online at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.

Continued efforts on the part of the public are needed to ensure our health system can respond to the impact of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan.

Modeling data released today by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) indicates that the key variable for saving lives and protecting health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is public compliance with prescribed isolation measures, physical distancing, effective hand washing and staying home, whenever and wherever possible.

It also indicates that current interventions are making a difference.

“Our job as a health care system is to provide care for those in need and to be ready for any scenario,” SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said. “While we understand Canadian data is starting to show some hopeful signs about flattening the curve on COVID-19, it is critical to remember not to be complacent. We need to continue to escalate our response to ensure we are prepared for the worst case scenarios and we need the public to help us avoid those scenarios.”

The SHA has increased access to testing through the creation of 38 testing sites around the province and tripled the staff available for contact tracing efforts to detect and prevent community transmission. As public health measures and capacity for community care services continue to increase, the acute care system has also been planning to add capacity. Up to 57 per cent more acute care capacity will be phased in as needed over the next several weeks, in anticipation of increased hospitalization rates. None of the major changes in this plan are immediate.

Communities will continue to be updated as changes to services and service locations occur in their areas through various communications channels as well as through Saskatchewan’s central access point for information at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19.

The following are highlights of the measures the SHA is taking in its next phase of pandemic response to ensure safety by segmenting patient populations between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patient populations:
• Creating dedicated spaces within many of its facilities to cohort COVID-19 patients;
• Designating certain hospitals COVID-19 hospitals. These changes are not immediate. The SHA has proactively identified 20 out of its 65 hospitals that would be designated COVID-19 hospitals, if required to meet the clinical needs of the patient population in their areas of the province;
• Adding acute care capacity through the creation of field hospitals in Saskatoon and Regina, with more locations being considered as part of later, contingency planning.

These measures are in addition to those SHA has already initiated to meet the demands of COVID-19. A slowdown of non-essential services to increase bed availability has already created acute care capacity across the system for handling a surge in COVID-19 related cases at future stages of the pandemic.

As of April 5, 43 per cent of Saskatchewan’s acute care beds were available for use, largely as a result of the slow down and preparation for the surge.

“We wanted to be transparent with the plan going forward so the public is aware of the escalated measures we will put into place if needed, but it is critical to remember that many of the changes proposed in this plan will be implemented only in response to anticipated surges in patient demand that start to exceed our capacity,” Livingstone said. “Changes like conversion to COVID-19 dedicated hospitals will only occur where it is absolutely required to ensure safety and maintain access for patients who need our care.”

Saskatchewan residents can continue to help by taking specific action, including:
• Practising good hygiene, washing hands regularly and practicing physical distancing (two metres apart wherever possible);
• Taking care of family, friends and neighbours who may be affected by mandatory self-isolation orders;
• Abide by provincial and local travel, self-isolation, event and gathering restrictions;
• Use medical supplies effectively and efficiently so that they are there when needed; and
• Avoid visiting our hospitals and long-term care facilities unless there are compassionate reasons for doing so.

“No health system in the world can manage this challenge without the sustained help of the general public,” SHA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Susan Shaw said. “To save lives, Saskatchewan residents need to do their best to stay healthy and strong and abide by the restrictions and guidelines for the general public around COVID-19. Demand will exceed our capacity as a health system if we are not diligent about these measures.”