All of Saskatchewan’s five new COVID-19 cases being reported Tuesday come from the Far North.

Three of the five are in the Beauval area with the other two from La Loche.  These five bring the provincial total to 573 with 193 of them considered active.  Of that 193, 151 are in the Far North.  There are now no active cases in Regina.

Eleven more have recovered bringing the provincial total to 374.  Another eleven are in hospital with three in intensive care. All three are in Saskatoon.

Dr. Julie Kryzanowski, senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said they have seen a decrease in testing numbers in recent weeks, and they are working to understand why that is the case.

While she said part of it is a good news story due to the effectiveness of the public health measures, she noted there are barriers when it comes to testing such as stigma. Dr. Kryzanowski mentioned some people don’t want to be tested because they are worried about confidentiality – especially for residents who live in smaller communities.

“We will continue to monitor, evaluate and adjust as we need to do so in response to what we are seeing in Saskatchewan, but also as we learn more about the COVID-19 virus and how it transmits in the population,” added Dr. Kryzanowski.

37,695 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.

There are now zero active cases in the south and Regina regions of the province’s pandemic map. Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said it’s a very positive note.

“It puts us in a good place to cautiously reopen, but we do realize there is an outbreak in the northwest of the province,” suggested Dr. Shahab on Tuesday afternoon.

“We are seeing in many other jurisdictions that even when you start reopening, you have to be diligent about maintaining your physical distance.”

Breaking down the cases by age, 201 are in the 20-39 range; 178 in the 40-59, 98 in the 60-79 range, 79 in 19 and under and 17 in 80-plus.

(With files from Moises Canales)