Organizer of Saskatoon event linked to COVID outbreak fined $2,000

The Saskatchewan government has levied a $2,000 fine against the organizer of a social gathering in Saskatoon that so far has been associated with 21 cases of COVID-19.

In its daily update Thursday, the provincial government said there were about 47 people at the event, exceeding the limit of 30 people for indoor and outdoor gatherings set out in the province’s public health order.

Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, said during a media conference that 160 contacts have been identified from the gathering as well.

Premier Scott Moe said the incident should be taken as a caution.

“It just takes one infected person in that kind of a setting to pass the virus on to many other guests. Then they go home and they pass that virus on to their family and to other close contacts that they see over the coming days, and before you know it, we have dozens of additional cases,” Moe said during the media conference.

Moe said that, even at a gathering smaller than the recommended size, people still need to physically distance, still need to be careful with food and drink, and still shouldn’t shake hands or hug each other.

Shahab said it’s unfortunate that this happened.

“I don’t think anyone plans an event with the view that transmission may happen, so it’s very unfortunate all around,” he said. “But I think it just forces us to think through: Why are we having a gathering? Where are we having it? Can we space it out? How will we plan it?”

But he also said that, as we go forward into the colder months and people spend more time indoors, we need to be really cautious.

Moe said it’s disappointing to see this kind of thing happen, especially with school just starting. He and Shahab both said several times that the best way to keep COVID-19 out of schools is to keep the numbers low in the community.

Shahab confirmed that at least a couple of the cases in Saskatoon schools were linked to the large gathering.

“This speaks to the fact that you get multiple chains of transmission and you’ll get that snowball effect,” he said.

Other provinces like Ontario have seen fit to increase fines for large gatherings, but Moe said he’s not talking about that right now in Saskatchewan.

“We don’t have a need to have that discussion, to be reactive as, by far and away, with the odd exception, the people in this province are adhering to the public health guidelines that are there,” said Moe.

The government reported seven new cases Thursday, with four in Saskatoon, two in the southeast zone and one in the southwest area. None of the new cases in Saskatoon were linked to the aforementioned gathering.

One case that was reported earlier this week has been removed from the province’s total because the individual doesn’t live in Saskatchewan. The total number of cases so far is 1,757.

There were four more recoveries reported, increasing that total so far to 1,624. To date, 24 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

There now are 109 active cases being reported, with 50 of those in the Saskatoon area. Of the province’s total, 29 are from communal living settings.

Five people are in hospital; all of them are receiving inpatient care in Saskatoon.

There have been 434 cases in the south area (222 southwest, 197 south-central, 15 southeast), 357 in the far north (349 far northwest, eight far northeast), 326 from the Saskatoon area, 271 in the north zone (131 northwest, 73 north-central, 67 northeast), 229 from the central area (168 central-west, 61 central-east) and 140 in the Regina region.

The number of cases in the Saskatoon area has increased by 66 since the start of the month.

The provincial total comprises 875 community contacts (including mass gatherings), 520 cases without any known exposures, 263 travellers and 99 individuals who remain under investigation by public health officials.

So far, 69 health-care workers in the province have contracted the coronavirus.

There have been 574 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 538 from age 40 to 59, 294 involving people 19 and under, 293 in the 60-to-79 age range and 58 aged 80 and over.

There were 1,515 tests done in Saskatchewan on Wednesday, increasing the provincial total to date to 164,666.

The government also produced its first look at cases and testing in school-aged children. That data can be located here.

There currently are 14 active cases involving children and youth in the province, with nine of those in the Saskatoon zone. A total of 2,090 tests were performed on people aged 19 and under in Saskatchewan starting Sept. 7.