Sask. reports 8 new COVID cases, 1 more recovery, 103 active cases

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan climbed back over the 100 mark Monday.

The provincial government announced there were eight new cases and one more recovery, leaving the province with 103 active cases.

It’s the first time that number has been in triple digits since Aug. 23, when it was 106. The number got as low as 29 on Sept. 2 before increasing to its current level.

Six of the new cases are in the Saskatoon area, with one each in the southwest and south-central zones.

The government media release said three cases — one false positive and two that were from out of province — had been removed from the Saskatchewan total. It now stands at 1,731.

The one recovery reported Monday increased that total so far to 1,604. To date, 24 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

Three people are receiving inpatient care in hospital in Saskatoon.

Province offers reminder about gatherings

In light of Sunday’s announcement that six of the 14 new cases in Saskatoon were linked to a single private gathering, the government had a message Monday about group get-togethers.

“Saskatchewan residents are reminded that indoor and outdoor gatherings may have a maximum of 30 people, provided there is enough space to maintain a two-metre separation between individuals who are not in the same household,” the media release said.

“Gathering sizes should be smaller if there isn’t enough space to maintain a physical distance of two metres at all times.”

The release added potlucks are discouraged and there shouldn’t be shared platters of food or buffet service. One person should handle the preparation of food and drinks, thus reducing the number of people who touch serving utensils or drink containers.

New dashboard unveiled

The province has updated the online dashboard that shows case numbers in each zone of the province.

It now features new and active case numbers for each of the 32 sub-zones and breaks down the number of tests done in each zone as well.

It can be found here.

A look at the numbers

Of the total number of cases in the province to date, 855 are community contacts, 518 don’t have any known exposures, 259 are travellers and 99 are being investigated by local public health.

The total also includes 69 health-care workers.

There have been 431 cases from the south area (221 southwest, 197 south-central, 13 southeast), 357 in the far north (349 far northwest, eight far northeast), 307 from the Saskatoon area, 270 in the north region (131 northwest, 73 north-central, 66 northeast), 227 from the central zone (168 central-west, 59 central-east) and 139 from the Regina region.

So far, 568 cases have been in the 20-to-39 age range, 529 have been between the ages of 40 and 59, 292 have been ages 60 to 79, 284 have involved people 19 and under, and 58 have been 80 and over.

There were 1,819 tests done in Saskatchewan on Sunday, increasing the provincial total to date to 160,275.