COVID-19 Update: 67 New Cases, 20 in Hospital, 53 Recoveries

Released on October 28, 2020

There are 67 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on October 28, 2020, bringing the total to 2,908 cases.  The new cases are located in the North West (7), North Central (7), North East (11), Saskatoon (25), Regina (15), and South East (2) zones and the one (1) case from yesterday pending location was assigned to the North Central zone.

Public health investigations are underway to determine the source of transmission for all new cases.  Of the 2,908 reported cases, 666 are considered active.  A total of 2,217 people have recovered.

Twenty people are in hospital.  Fourteen people are receiving inpatient care; four in the North zone, nine in the Saskatoon zone and one in the Regina zone.  Six people are in intensive care; one in the North Central zone, four in Saskatoon and one in Regina.

Of the 2,908 cases in the province:

• 355 cases are travelers;
• 1,436 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 745 have no known exposures; and
• 372 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 91 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 580 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 1,038 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 824 are in the 40-59 age range; 386 are in the 60-79 age range; and 80 are in the 80-plus range.
• 51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
• 25 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
• There are:
  • 690 cases from the Saskatoon area
  • 563 cases from the north area (182 north west, 257 north central, 124 north east)
  • 491 cases from the south area (228 south west, 211 south central, 52 south east)
  • 436 cases from the far north area (382 far north west, 0 far north central, 54 far north east)
  • 369 cases from the central area (196 central west, 173 central east)
  • 357 cases from the Regina area
  • Two cases have pending residence location

To date, 256,082 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan.  As of October 26, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 172,989 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 258,118 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 2,410 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

*Please note that the reported 3,434 performed tests on October 27 was subsequently adjusted to 3,431. This is still the highest daily number of tests performed to date. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Halloween

Members of the Public

If you are going to participate in Halloween activities, do so safely.  Don’t attend or host large events that exceed gathering size limits under current public health orders or Reopen Saskatchewan Guidelines.  This includes house parties and public events. At this time it is strongly recommended that if people are going to a nightclub/bar/pub/licensed establishment, they visit one location only.  Pub crawls are not recommended.

Individuals attending private gatherings that exceed the capacity limits in the current Public Health Order can be subject to a $2,000 fine.

For guidelines regarding Halloween Trick-or-Treating (including door-to-door and Mall/Retail Trick-or-Treating) Haunted Houses and Pumpkin Patches, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-halloween.

Night Clubs

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has identified multiple outbreaks associated with night clubs in Saskatoon.  The need to restrict activities in these establishments is necessary to prevent ongoing transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

A new Public Health Order (PHO) will be posted today, and will come into effect on Friday, October 30.

For nightclubs in the City of Saskatoon, enhancements include:

• The consumption of alcohol in all nightclubs is prohibited from the hours of 10 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. for all persons, including patrons, staff, and owners;
• Nightclubs must be closed to patrons at 11 p.m. until at least 9:30 a.m. the following day.  Takeout food services are permitted.

The order will also require all nightclubs in Saskatchewan to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Six patrons to a table only.
• Static table groupings – no mingling among groups/tables.
• Karaoke and dance floors remain prohibited.
• Business owners and operators must ensure physical distancing within their establishments.
• As outlined in the Reopen Saskatchewan Guidelines, mask use is required for staff.  It is strongly encouraged for patrons until they are seated.

Recommended for all establishments in Saskatchewan:

• Bars/nightclubs/licensed establishments are recommended to take names and contact information of all patrons to assist contact tracing in the event of possible transmission.

If there is conflict between the Re-Open Saskatchewan Guidelines and the Public Health Order conflict, the requirements under the Public Health Order are to be followed.  Owners/event planners/hosts are encouraged to reach out to the Business Response Team for advice if they have further questions.

Business Response Team:

Phone: 1-844-800-8688
Email: supportforbusiness@gov.sk.ca 
Website: www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-businesses

Establishments that serve liquor in Saskatoon and across the province are urged to remain vigilant in their compliance with the Public Health Order and the Reopen Saskatchewan Guidelines.

REMINDER: Activities that do not follow public health orders or Reopen Saskatchewan Guidelines have been shown to be possible “superspreaders” and hosts/businesses can be fined under the Public Health Act. 

COVID-19 Testing

A referral for testing can be made by contacting HealthLine 811, your physician or nurse practitioner.  If you require urgent care, call 911.

Further information on testing, including drive-thru testing locations, is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-testing.

General COVID-19 Information

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.

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For more information, contact:

Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: media@health.gov.sk.ca