Active cases of COVID-19 jumped above 700 with a new single-day high for new cases in Saskatchewan, according to Thursday’s update from the Ministry of Health. Eighty-two new cases were reported, 37 of them from Saskatoon, with 41 people having recovered…meaning there are 707 active cases of the novel coronavirus in the province. Twenty people are in hospital due to COVID-19…six in I-C-U, four of them in Saskatoon and one from each of Regina and the North Central zone.

       Besides the 37 infections in Saskatoon, Thursday’s update had 13 new cases from Regina, 11 from the North Central zone, seven from Central East, six from North West, three from North East, two each from South Central and South East and one new case from the South West zone. Overall, since the pandemic was declared in mid-March, there have been 2,990 reported cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan with 2,258 people having recovered.

Of the 2,990 cases in the province:

• 358 cases are travelers;
• 1,473 are community contacts (including mass gatherings);
• 761 have no known exposures; and
• 398 are under investigation by local public health.

Overall in Saskatchewan to date:

• 94 cases are healthcare workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to healthcare in all instances.
• 603 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.
• 1,075 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 843 are in the 40-59 age range; 389 are in the 60-79 age range; and 80 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:
  • 727 cases from the Saskatoon area
  • 583 cases from the north area (188 north west, 268 north central, 127 north east)
  • 496 cases from the south area (229 south west, 213 south central, 54 south east)
  • 436 cases from the far north area (382 far north west, 0 far north central, 54 far north east)
  • 376 cases from the central area (196 central west, 180 central east)
  • 370 cases from the Regina area
  • Two cases have pending residence location

To date, 258,143 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Saskatchewan.  As of October 27, 2020 when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 174,383 people tested per million population.  The national rate was 259,467 people tested per million population.

On Wednesday, 2,061 COVID-19 tests were performed in Saskatchewan.

Nightclubs

Yesterday, the Chief Medical Health Officer announced a new Public Health Order (PHO) for nightclubs in the City of Saskatoon.  The order was made following multiple outbreaks associated with night clubs in Saskatoon.  The need to restrict activities in these establishments is necessary to prevent ongoing transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

Below are two points of clarification:

• For the purposes of this order, a “nightclub” means an establishment at which the main activities are selling liquor and providing music to which patrons can dance.
• This order is not intended to capture lounges, pubs, restaurants, or liquor manufacturing facilities that have tasting rooms.

This order will come into effect on Friday, October 30 at 9:00 am.

The new order states:

• The consumption of alcohol in all nightclubs is prohibited from the hours of 10 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. for all persons, including patrons, staff, and owners;

Nightclubs must be closed to patrons at 11 p.m. until at least 9:30 a.m. the following day.  Takeout food services are permitted.

The existing order also requires all nightclubs in Saskatchewan to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Six patrons to a table or booth.
• Static seated groupings – no mingling among groups/tables.
• Karaoke and dance floors remain prohibited.
• Business owners and operators must ensure physical distancing within their establishments.
• As outlined in the Re-open Saskatchewan Guidelines, mask use is required for staff.  It is strongly encouraged for patrons until they are seated.

It is recommended that all bars/nightclubs/licensed establishments in Saskatchewan take names and contact information of all patrons to assist contact tracing in the event of possible transmission.

If there is conflict between the Re-Open Saskatchewan Guidelines and the Public Health Order, the requirements under the Public Health Order prevail.  Owners/event planners/hosts are encouraged to reach out to the Business Response Team for advice if they have further questions.

Business Response Team:

Phone: 1-844-800-8688
Email: supportforbusiness@gov.sk.ca
Website: www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-businesses

Establishments that serve liquor in Saskatoon and across the province are urged to remain vigilant in their compliance with the Public Health Order and the Re-open Saskatchewan Guidelines.

REMINDER: Activities that do not follow public health orders or Re-open Saskatchewan Guidelines have been shown to be possible “superspreaders” and hosts/businesses can be fined under the The Public Health Act, 1994 for failing to follow guidelines.

Weekly Reporting of Testing Numbers and Cases for Youth

Monitoring the trends of COVID-19 cases in school-aged children, the weekly report of cases and testing numbers for children aged 0-19 with data by age categories and testing positivity rates has been posted for the week of October 19-25 at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-Safe-Schools-Plan.  Reports will be published Thursdays.