Five new cases of COVID-19, nine more recoveries in Saskatchewan

On the same day Premier Scott Moe announced details of Saskatchewan’s plan to restart the economy, the provincial government revealed Thursday five new cases of COVID-19.

That raises the total number of cases in the province to date to 331, including one presumptive positive case.

There have been 15 new cases reported over the past three days; there were 16 new cases over the previous seven-day period.

Nine more people have recovered, raising that total to date to 270. Four people have died.

Fifty-seven of the cases are considered active. That comprises 20 cases in Saskatoon, 19 in the far north, 10 in Regina, five in the northern region, two in the central region and one in the south.

There are six people in hospitals in Saskatchewan, one more than was reported Wednesday.

Five people — two each in Regina and Saskatoon and one in the north — are receiving inpatient care. One person is in intensive care in Saskatoon.

Of the 331 cases, the number of contact-related cases has exceeded the number of travel-related cases for the first time. There now have been 142 of the former and 136 of the latter.

There also are 33 cases without a known exposure and 20 cases still under investigation.

Thirty-six health-care workers have contracted the virus to date.

Of the total number of cases, 150 are from the Saskatoon area, 71 are from the Regina area, 62 reside in the north, 22 are from the far north, 15 live in the south and 11 are from the central region.

The number of cases in the far north has doubled since Monday’s report.

In total, there have been 117 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 113 between the ages of 40 and 59, 65 in the 60-to-79 age range, 26 involving people 19 years of age and under, and 10 involving people in the 80-and-over range.

The 25,872 COVID-19 tests done to date in the province include 551 on Wednesday.

The government noted that Saskatchewan’s testing rate of 21,895 tests per million residents exceeds the national rate of 16,155 tests per million.

The province didn’t hold a conference call Thursday to discuss the latest numbers.