There were large numbers of new cases of COVID-19 as well as recoveries which means a small increase in active cases of the novel coronavirus in Saskatchewan in Tuesday’s update from the Ministry of Health.  The report had 58 new cases, along with 56 recoveries, leaving the active cases at 652 in the province. Of those active cases, 24 people are hospitalized; six in intensive care, four in Saskatoon and one each in Regina and the North Central zone.

 Half of Tuesday’s 58 new cases are from Saskatoon with less than 10 new cases reported from each of eight other zones and one case location pending. However, 39 of Tuesday’s 56 recoveries were from Saskatoon, dropping the city’s active count from 200 to 190. In total, 2,783 cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the pandemic was declared in mid-March in Saskatchewan with 2,108 individuals having recovered.

The Ministry of Health also used Tuesday’s COVID-19 update to remind Saskatchewan residents of participating safely in Halloween this Saturday especially when it comes to gathering sizes, noting that not following guidelines can lead to being “superspreaders” of the novel coronavirus. In addition, the reminder warned that exceeding indoor gathering sizes, as outlined in the Public Health Act, can lead to fines for private hosts or businesses. Guidelines are here regarding Halloween Trick-or-Treating (including door-to-door and Mall/Retail Trick-or-Treating) Haunted Houses and Pumpkin Patches.

Of the 2,783 cases in the province:

• 350 cases are travelers;
• 1,365 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 715 have no known exposures; and
• 353 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 87 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 540 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 992 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 796 are in the 40-59 age range; 376 are in the 60-79 age range; and 79 are in the 80-plus range.
• 51 per cent of the cases are females and 49 per cent are males.
• 25 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.
• There are:
  • 636 cases are from the Saskatoon area
  • 521 cases are from the north area (167 north west, 243 north central, 111 north east)
  • 487 cases are from the south area (228 south west, 211 south central, 48 south east)
  • 434 cases are from the far north area (381 far north west, 0 far north central, 53 far north east)
  • 366 cases are from the central area (196 central west, 170 central east)
  • 337 cases are from the Regina area
  • Two (2) cases have pending residence location

To date, 250,241 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan.  As of October 24, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 169,663 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 255,485 people tested per million population.

Yesterday, 2,332 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.