Latest COVID update Nov. 16

As Saskatchewan reported another 181 new COVID-19 cases Monday, there was growing speculation the provincial government will announce more measures Tuesday to help curb the spread of the virus.

On Sunday, Premier Scott Moe tweeted “further measures are being considered” as cases continued to climb.

In consultation with public health officials, further measures are being considered. We must all step up our efforts to keep one another safe.

Thanks Saskatchewan.

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) November 15, 2020

That tweet came on the heels of significant fallout from the government’s announcement Friday of new restrictions.

More than 300 doctors sent a letter to the province complaining the restrictions didn’t go far enough. The NDP also raised concerns, while a number of business organizations applauded the scope of the restrictions.

Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, are slated to hold a media conference Tuesday at 3 p.m.

The new cases announced Monday increased the total number of new cases in Saskatchewan in November alone to 2,048.

A look at the numbers

The new cases reported Monday were located in the Saskatoon (41), Regina (32), north-central (18), southwest (17), far northeast (16), northwest (13), far northwest (11), northeast (11), far north-central (five), central-east (five), southeast (five) and south-central zones (two) zones.

The hometowns of five of the new cases were being determined.

The provincial total to date stands at 5,182 cases.

There were 60 recoveries reported, increasing that total so far to 3,223. To date, 31 residents of the province have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

The number of active cases being reported is now 1,928. That includes 588 cases in the Saskatoon area and 338 in the Regina region.

The number of people in hospital in the province rose to an all-time high of 68, including 16 in intensive care. That group comprises seven people in Saskatoon, five in Regina and two in each of the north-central and central-east areas.

Of the 52 people receiving inpatient care, 27 are in Saskatoon, six are in the southeast, six are in the north-central zone, five are in the northeast, three are in the northwest, two are in the southwest, one is in Regina, one is in the far northwest and one is in the south-central zone.

The number of health-care workers to have contracted the virus rose to 148, an increase of seven from Sunday’s total. There have been 49 cases among Saskatchewan’s health-care workers this month.

The total number of cases comprises 2,287 community contacts, 1,409 that remain under investigation, 1,074 that don’t have any known exposures and 412 travellers.

To date, there have been 1,465 cases from the Saskatoon area, 1,114 in the north, 763 in the Regina region, 672 from the south, 662 in the far north, and 481 from the central zone. The hometowns of 25 cases are pending.

The total includes 1,894 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 1,424 from ages 40 to 59, 1,081 involving people 19 and under, 643 between the ages of 60 and 79, and 134 aged 80 and over. The ages of six cases are being investigated.

There were 3,134 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Sunday, increasing that total to date to 300,838.

As of Saturday, Saskatchewan’s per capita testing rate was 197,545 people per million population, well below the national rate of 275,292.