Saskatchewan records an eighth case of COVID-19

The number of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan is up to eight.

The most-recent case is a person who travelled to a dental conference in Vancouver.

There are two confirmed cases in the Saskatoon area. Five of the six presumptive cases are in the Regina area and the other is in northern Saskatchewan.

“Of those five (from Regina), two were individuals who had travelled from the U.S.,” Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, told reporters Tuesday. “One of those two is actually hospitalized due to non-COVID-related issues.

“Of the other three from the Regina area, there was one case who had attended a dental conference in Vancouver and then there was a secondary household case (associated with that one). We have a second case — the fifth case in Regina and our eighth case — who also had attended the dental conference in Vancouver and now has symptoms.”

Shahab told reporters that seven of the cases have progressed well since their diagnosis.

“Apart from the one person who is hospitalized, all of the rest of the cases are actually doing well and we expect them to make a full recovery within a week or two,” said Shahab, who noted an underlying medical condition sent that one individual to hospital.

“There is good evidence now that people who have mild infections cleared the virus within 10 to 14 days and don’t even require retesting once the symptoms are gone.”

So far there still isn’t any local transmission, so no further preventative measures are being announced. But Shahab said discussions are ongoing.

Shahab said 880 tests have been done in the province to date — 405 in the southern areas, 284 in Saskatoon and 191 in the north.

The province has made a number of recommendations to residents when it comes to the virus, including self-isolating after showing symptoms and keeping their distance from other people to avoid the potential spread of the virus.

Shahab believes those recommendations are having an effect.

“Many people are very conscious now when they’re going out — if they are shopping or otherwise going out — about social distancing,” he said. “As a province, we’re all moving in the right direction.”

Returning travellers could lead to a spike in numbers unless they stay home, watch for symptoms and — if they develop a fever or a cough — get checked out by a medical professional.

“That is going to be essential to keep our numbers low,” said Shahab, who admitted he expected to see more travel-related cases in Saskatchewan in the next week or two.

SHA says fixes coming to 811 Healthline

As people continue to try and get through to the 811 hotline, the Saskatchewan Health Authority says there are improvements being made to the system.

“We more than doubled the staff that are working to support the 811 system,” Derek Miller, emergency operations command centre chief with the SHA, said during a conference call Tuesday. “We also increased the number of lines that were able to take calls in the call centre.”

Miller said that as of Tuesday, the 811 hotline is in the process of moving to a new infrastructure.

“This new phone infrastructure will increase the phone lines to over 500 with the ability to increase that. It will eliminate the possibility of dropped calls. It will also allow a call-back feature where people can select, if they don’t want to wait in line, to get a call back when they would be up next in the queue,” Miller said.

Miller said the SHA is working on getting the new system up with SaskTel and e-Health but couldn’t give an exact date. Miller just said the authority wants to get it up as soon as possible.

Dr. Susan Shaw, the SHA’s chief medical officer, said the authority has received offers from retired doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals about how they can help during this time.

“We are looking at how to best take their offers and bring them onto our team,” Shaw said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Britton Gray and Adriana Christianson