Latest COVID update Nov. 20

A person from the Saskatoon area has become the 33rd resident of the province to die after testing positive for COVID-19.

In a media release Friday, the Ministry of Health said the person was in the 80-and-over age group. It’s the fourth COVID-related fatality in Saskatchewan over the past six days.

The ministry also announced there were 153 new cases. That total likely includes a number of cases that weren’t part of Thursday’s report due to a processing delay that was caused by what the government called “weather and logistical impediments.”

The Saskatoon region reported the most new cases, with 42. Other new cases were reported in the southeast (20), far north-central (16), Regina (14), southwest (14), north-central (14), northwest (11), far northeast (four), central-east (four), south-central (four), far northwest (three), central-west (two) and northeast (one) zones.

The hometowns of four cases are being investigated.

Since March, there have been 5,804 cases reported in Saskatchewan.

The number of people in hospital has reached an all-time high of 85, with a record high of 19 of those in intensive care.

That group includes eight people in Saskatoon, five in Regina, three in the north-central area and one in each of the northwest, central-east and southwest areas.

The 66 people receiving inpatient care are spread between the Saskatoon (30), southeast (16), north-central (seven), Regina (five), northwest (five), northeast (one), central-east (one) and south-central (one) zones.

There were 73 recoveries reported Friday, increasing that total to date to 3,626.

The number of active cases being reported in the province stands at 2,145. There were 139 active cases being reported on Sept. 30.

The source of nearly 2,800 of the total cases in the province to date isn’t known, emphasizing the trouble health officials are having with contact tracing.

As of Friday, 1,578 cases remain under investigation by local public health officials and 1,216 don’t have any known exposures.

The total also includes 2,589 community contacts and 421 travellers.

So far, 171 health-care workers have contracted the virus. That number stood at 73 at the end of September.

Of the total number of cases since March, 1,670 have been from the Saskatoon area, 1,236 have been from the north, 850 have been in the Regina region, 787 have been from the south zone, 724 have been in the far north, and 509 have been from the central area.

The residences of 28 cases are pending.

There have been 2,101 cases in the 20-to-39 age range, 1,571 from ages 40 to 59, 1,239 involving people 19 and under, 720 between the ages of 60 and 79, and 168 in the 80-and-over group.

The ages of five cases are still being determined.

The 2,826 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Thursday raised the total to date to 310,090.