Tuesday numbers on COVID-19 in Saskatchewan show 10 new cases and nine recoveries, putting the active case count at 146 in the province.
Six of the new cases are in Saskatoon, two are in Regina with the Far North East and Central West zones each reporting one.
Premier Scott Moe said during Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 update on Tuesday that he knows the vast majority of Saskatchewan residents are doing their level best during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But he also understands there are some people that have chosen not to follow the health guidelines in place. The premier said people get in trouble when they step outside of the direction and advice given by public health officials.
“There have been some instances where the rules were not followed, even for an instance, and that has led to some outbreaks in this province,” started Moe. “We need to continue to be careful and we need to continue to limit our gathering sizes.”
Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab stated on Tuesday that people need to continue to think carefully when taking part in gatherings in order to reduce the spread of the virus.
“So far, I think people have really been very thoughtful of that whether it’s a gathering in your backyard or if it has to be indoors,” explained Dr. Shahab.
“Beyond that, we need to be thoughtful of why we are having people over, how many can you safely accommodate. It’s an important thing to think about especially during Thanksgiving.”
The province shared in a release on Tuesday that two of the new cases reported in the Saskatoon area are associated with the workplace outbreak previously identified at Brandt Industries. To date, there have been 19 cases linked to this cluster. The latest confirmed cases are from testing completed on close contacts of the employees and are not occurring in the workplace itself.
Investigations completed thus far have found that 24 of the 146 current active cases are from communal living settings.
A total of nine people are in hospital. Eight people are receiving inpatient care; seven of those are in Saskatoon, one is in Regina. One person is in intensive care in Saskatoon.
On Monday, 1,641 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan. That brings the provincial total to over 175,000.
(With files from Moises Canales)
