For the first time in nearly two weeks, Saskatchewan announced more recoveries from COVID-19 than new cases.
On Monday, the provincial government reported 14 more recoveries and four new cases. The last time recoveries outnumbered new cases was April 28, when there were three recoveries and just one new case.
Since that day, there have been 202 new cases and 72 recoveries.
The four new cases also represented the smallest single-day total since that one case on April 28.
The total of cases in the province to date now is 568. All four of the cases reported Monday were in La Loche.
There have been 363 recoveries so far in Saskatchewan. Six people have died in the province to date.
The number of active cases in the province dropped from 209 on Sunday to 199 on Monday. It’s the first time since April 28 the number of active cases fell from one day to the next.
The active cases include 151 in the far north, 33 in the north, 13 in Saskatoon, one in the central area of the province and one in Regina. There aren’t any active cases in the southern area of the province.
Of the total number of cases, 197 have been in the far north, 163 have been in Saskatoon, 105 have been in the north, 76 have been in Regina, 15 have lived in the southern region and 12 have been from the central area of the province.
There currently are 11 people in hospital, including eight (five in the northern region and three in Saskatoon) who are receiving inpatient care. Three people are in intensive care in Saskatoon.
Of the 568 cases, 288 are community contacts, 138 are travellers, 66 don’t have any known exposures and 76 are being investigated by local public health.
So far, 48 health-care workers have contracted the virus.
The total number of cases includes 200 in the 20-to-39 age range, 176 between the ages of 40 and 59, 96 in the 60-to-79 age range, 79 aged 19 or under, and 17 in the 80-and-over range.
There were 529 tests done Sunday, increasing the province’s total to date to 37,439.
Lloydminster gets green light
Since the outbreak in the Lloydminster Hospital now is considered stable, the border city has been given the OK to proceed to Phase 2 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan on May 19. That’s the same day the rest of the province moves to that stage.
Because of the outbreak, the city had to wait until Monday to enter Phase 1 of the plan. Other locations in the province started that phase on May 4.
Large events in the province
Many large events and gatherings in Saskatchewan have already pulled the plug for the year but there are a few others, like Country Thunder and the Grey Cup, which haven’t made a call yet.
Country Thunder is more and more in the spotlight as it’s set to happen in just under two months.
“If an event like Country Thunder wanted to occur today, it wouldn’t be able to under the public health orders that we have with gatherings of 10 people and trying to keep those gatherings into one, maybe two, possibly three households,” said Premier Scott Moe.
He said that if allowable public gathering sizes were to expand by thousands between now and July, that would be one thing.
“It doesn’t appear that will be the case for many events this summer unfortunately, up to and potentially including this fall’s Grey Cup,” said Moe.
Moe said event organizers make their own decisions on when to cancel things and each has its own timelines on when things would need to be announced. However, he also said that the person who makes decisions on public health orders is the chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick