Sask. reports 40 new COVID cases and 2 fines, business told to close temporarily

With the mercury dropping but the number of positive COVID-19 cases on the rise, Saskatchewan’s top doctor is reminding people they can’t move the party indoors.

“Meet more virtually. Only close friends and close family should go to those essential events, whether it’s a marriage, a funeral or other special event,” Dr. Saqib Shahab said during his media update Friday.

“We have seen transmissions at birthday parties (and) at weddings. Even wedding receptions that were under 30 (people present) have in some cases resulted in transmission to the entire wedding party.”

On Friday, the Ministry of Health reported 40 new cases. But it also said two more fines had been levied for violating Saskatchewan’s public health order and a business had been ordered to close temporarily for not having adequate COVID-19 mitigation measures in place.

Shahab said the province is currently reporting 30 to 40 cases per day. He said health officials are watching for a threshold of about 60 cases per day over a period of time.

“That’s really a threshold we don’t want to reach but obviously that is a threshold that has been used by many jurisdictions and certainly we would have to consider what further interventions we would have to put in place,” Shahab said.

The Ministry of Health said one person and one corporation had been fined for failing to abide by public health orders. Fines can amount to $2,000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations, plus a victim surcharge.

The ministry didn’t provide any more details about the fines, or about the business that was ordered to close. The release only said: “The owners/operators will work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to rectify these issues.”

Shahab said he doesn’t want to name these businesses at this time.

Shahab said there have been 54 new cases in the 20-to-39 age range since Monday.

“We are seeing more cases in that young, active age group which are out and about at work but out and about socializing,” he said. “Young people have always felt invulnerable; it’s the nature of being young …

“We have heard that older people and those with underlying health conditions are most likely to suffer from the most severe outcomes from COVID illness, (but) that doesn’t mean that young people are immune.

“We have to recognize that we have had many people between 20 and 40 admitted into medical ICU.”

Eight of the new cases reported Friday were in the north-central zone, with seven in each of the Regina, Saskatoon and far northeast areas, six in the far northwest region, two in the central-east area, and one in each of the northwest, central-west and south-central zones.

“Twenty-three of today’s new cases have been linked to close contacts/gatherings,” the ministry said in its release. “Note that ‘superspreader’ events are not limited to those who attended the event itself, but quickly transmit in local settings.

“The most recent summary data available indicates that 79 individuals in multiple communities (who) have tested positive for COVID-19 are linked to the Gospel Worship event in Prince Albert, including case contacts of attendees. At least 250 contacts have been part of the contact investigation relative to this superspreader event.”

Two cases that had been included in the province’s cumulative total have been deemed to be out-of-province cases and have been removed from the province’s books. Saskatchewan’s total number of cases since March now stands at 2,270.

The recoveries reported Friday increased that total so far to 1,946. To date, 25 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

The number of active cases being reported is 299.

Seven people — five in the Saskatoon area and two in the north-central region — are receiving inpatient care in hospital. There are two people in intensive care, with one in Regina and one in Saskatoon.

So far, there have been 469 cases from the Saskatoon region, 468 from the south area (226 southwest, 209 south-central, 33 southeast), 397 in the far north (365 far northwest, 32 far northeast), 363 in the north zone (141 northwest, 142 north-central, 80 northeast), 325 from the central area (188 central-west, 137 central-east) and 248 in the Regina region.

The total comprises 1,101 community contacts (including mass gatherings), 628 cases that don’t have any known exposures, 318 travellers and 223 cases that remain under investigation.

There have been 78 Saskatchewan health-care workers infected with the coronavirus to date.

The total includes 771 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 682 between the ages of 40 and 59, 394 involving people 19 and under, 352 from ages 60 to 79, and 71 aged 80 and over.

The 2,568 tests done in Saskatchewan on Thursday increased the provincial total to date to 225,532.