COVID-19 outbreak declared at Saskatoon dairy; 18 of 20 new cases in far north

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a dairy facility in the Saskatoon region.

Scott Livingstone, the SHA’s chief executive officer, made the announcement Tuesday while discussing the latest update on the number of cases in the province.

“At this time, an active case investigation is underway and based on that investigation, there has been no identified need for a public service announcement because of low transmission risk to the public,” Livingstone said during a media conference. “It’s a single employee at that facility at this point in time.”

One confirmed case is all that’s required for an outbreak to be declared.

Livingstone noted measures are being taken to reduce the possibility of transmission of the virus at the worksite and with the individual’s identified contacts.

“As the local MHO (medical health officer) assesses the situation and assesses risks, more information will become available,” Livingstone said. “If deemed appropriate to protect the health of the public, we will issue a public health advisory.”

There were 20 new cases reported Tuesday, with 18 of them from the far north and two from the northern region of the province.

The total number of cases in the province is now 487. Of that number, 128 are from the far north.

Saskatchewan has announced 98 new cases in the first five days of May, with 70 of those being from the far north.

Livingstone said five of the new cases are in La Loche, with the rest in communities throughout the northwest.

“This is not unexpected,” he said. “Our aggressive testing and contact tracing is helping us identify and isolate people who are COVID-positive and may be at risk. While we must be cautious, we also know our measures are doing what they’re intended to do.”

There weren’t any new cases in the Lloydminster area, where there’s also an outbreak. There was one new case in Prince Albert, but Livingstone said it wasn’t related to the recent outbreak declared at that city’s Victoria Hospital.

In that case, one patient tested positive. Staff members who had been in contact with the patient were required to self-isolate.

“All other testing results so far associated with the outbreak at P.A. Vic Hospital have turned up negative,” Livingstone said.

When the SHA revealed its revised modelling numbers April 28, it referenced the Effective Reproductive Number. That’s the average number of people who could be infected by one person with the virus after all preventative measures have been taken.

The SHA’s hope is for that number to remain below 1.0 — and last week, it was 0.7. As of Sunday, it was 0.97.

“We’re concerned that this number is increasing and are monitoring it very closely,” Livingstone said, “no different than we are concerned about recent case growth increase across the province.”

The numbers

Of the 487 cases in Saskatchewan, 184 are community contacts (mass gatherings included), 138 cases are travellers and 41 don’t have any known exposures. Public health officials are investigating the other 124 cases.

Of the total number of cases, 162 have been from the Saskatoon area, 128 have been from the far north, 95 were recorded in the north, 76 were in the Regina area, 15 were from the south and 11 resided in the central region.

The number of health-care workers who have been infected so far is 43, although not all have contracted the virus in a work setting.

The number of people aged 19 and under who have COVID-19 has risen to 58 — an increase of seven since Monday’s report.

There also are 174 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 153 cases involving people between the ages of 40 and 59, 87 in the 60-to-79 range, and 15 aged 80 or over.

There currently are 171 active cases, including 114 in the far north, 37 in the north, 16 in Saskatoon and four in Regina. The central and southern regions don’t have any active cases.

Three more people have been declared recovered, bringing the provincial total so far to 310. Six Saskatchewan residents have died to date.

There are 13 people in hospital, including nine (seven in Saskatoon and two in the north) who are receiving inpatient care. Three people in Saskatoon and one person in the north are in intensive care.

There were 587 tests done in the province Monday, hiking the total to date in Saskatchewan to 32,921.