The province is telling us of 33 new COVID-19 cases on Friday to go along with 31 recoveries. It puts the active case total at 511.  Two weeks ago, that number stood at 139.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (1), North West (3), North Central (5), North East (4), Saskatoon (4), Central East (3), Regina (9) and South East (4) zones.

To date, 37 of Saskatoon’s confirmed cases have been linked to a single nightclub venue.

Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said during Friday’s COVID-19 update that people need to do the best they can to make sure schools, businesses and other public spaces remain open as case numbers continue to increase.

Shahab noted how this week’s average daily case rate went up to 4.2 new cases a day per 100,000 residents compared to 2.8 cases a day per 100,000 residents last week.

In regards to the indoor private gathering limit at 15, he says people don’t always have to be at the maximum for gatherings.

“All of us need to run below even the 15 limit, and that is what has worked well for us,” explained Shahab when asked if the government will impose more restrictions if case numbers remain high. “But certainly, if there continues to be increased case numbers, we will have to look at further specific measures.”

He reminded residents to make sure they are following public health guidelines during this surge in cases – even if COVID-19 numbers are not significantly increasing in their area.

“Since we have community transmission throughout the province, the basic principles remain the same,” said Shahab. “Just because your own part of Saskatchewan doesn’t have a high active case rate, doesn’t mean we should lag on some of those preventative measures that are so important.”

In all, there have been 2,591 reported cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan since the pandemic was declared in March.

• 482 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 912 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 751 are in the 40-59 age range; 369 are in the 60-79 age range; and 77 are in the 80-plus range.

Twenty people are in hospital. Sixteen people are receiving inpatient care; nine in the Saskatoon zone, one in the Regina zone, one in the North West zone, five in the North Central zone. Four people are in intensive care; three in Saskatoon and one in Regina.

2,297 tests were performed in Saskatchewan Thursday bringing the provincial total to 2,297

(With files from Moises Canales)